Foster care FAI hears boy was upset over fathers identity

The fatal accident inquiry (FAI) into the death of a foster carer has heard about the circumstances leading up to incident in June 2011.

Yesterday, the inquiry heard how the boy had been asking carers and social workers about over the identity of his biological father.

It is understood the boy saw his birth certificate which listed a man he knew as his grandmother’s boyfriend as his father.

The boys social worker, Steven Lorimer, added that his mother had claimed the boys real father was deceased during a meeting just four days before he stabbed Dawn McKenzie to death.

Mr Lormier said: “During the meeting, the boy and his mother had started to speak about the birth certificate and his biological father. He asked his mum to clarify why the person on his birth certificate wasn’t his biological father.

“I can remember before the meeting that he was upset and angry that a different name was on the birth certificate.

“The explanation was simply that the man he knew as his gran’s boyfriend was his mother’s boyfriend when he was born.”

Mr Lorimer then said the boy then began to ask about the identity of his own father.

“His mum said he was a ‘wee fat man’ and he was dead,” Mr Lorimer said.

“The boy was passive and his expression didn’t change. It was negative information, the experience rated very poorly compared to others I have been involved in.

“The comment about his birth father could have had a profound effect on him. I was unprepared for that.”

Mr Lorimer told the inquiry he could not remember if he had passed on the information to Mrs McKenzie following the meeting.

He added: “I would accept that there should have been more preparation by myself and better planning in terms of that kind of information being shared.

“It could have been handled differently.”

The probe also heard about a diary entry by Mrs McKenzie which said the boy’s laptop and mobile phone had been confiscated after she discovered he was in contact with his mother through Facebook.

She wrote: “We had an incident with regards to Facebook on June 15. He has been using Facebook to contact his mum. I removed both his laptop and mobile phone.

“I called his school and his use of computers will be supervised at all times in class. He accepted they were being taken off him to stop contact with his mum. There was no conflict.”

The teenager was jailed for seven years in 2012 after being found guilty of culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

The inquiry in Motherwell continues.