A great-grandmother who lost three generations of family in one night at the hands of an 'evil' dad wants him to suffer like they did.
Gwyneth Swain’s eyes fill with tears as she looks at pictures of the family members she lost.
Her daughter Kim, 46, granddaughter Kayleigh, 17, and great granddaughter Kimberley, six months, were snuffed out in one night by Kimberley’s twisted dad Carl Mills.
Quietly, she says: “You don’t get over it. You stop living and you just learn to exist.”
Mills, now serving a 35-year jail term for the triple murder, began sexually exploiting Kayleigh when he was 26 she was 14, after they chatted online.
Gwyneth, 72, said: “She changed. She wasn't one of these streetwise kids but she played truant from school which she'd never done before.”
A child protection referral was made when Kayleigh fell pregnant in 2012 but authorities closed the case.
Astonishingly, this came after police checks on Mills found “25 pages of offences of an aggressive nature on record” and showed he’d served prison time.
He’d also tried to set fire to his mum’s bed and threatened her with knives but no child protection conference was arranged when severely disabled Kimberley was born.
Gwyneth said: “The last time I saw Kayleigh, she was with her baby, so full of love. As I was leaving, I said, 'Give me a ring if you need anything'.
“A neighbour woke me and said the house was on fire. I saw the fire engines and I knew they were dead.
“Kayleigh had screamed for Kim. Kim said, ‘I can’t get to you, I’m on fire’. It kills me. I’d love to make him suffer in the way they did. I can never forgive him.”
A report into the deaths found the authorities, who didn’t supervise Mills’ contact with Kimberley, had made a series of blunders.
It said: “The father’s predatory, controlling and abusive behaviour was not recognised and addressed by the agencies as sexual exploitation and domestic abuse.
“No formal action was taken to prevent the abuse and decisions intended to restrict dad’s contact with child lacked any legal authority.
“The risks were not fully understood because information about the father’s background was not sufficiently accessed and considered, and did not inform the judgements reached and actions taken.”
But Gwyneth said: “It was just one cock up after another. The law needs to be much stricter because I don’t want anyone to go through the hell I have.”
Meanwhile, at least 63 children have been killed after the law allowed them to be left with violent parents.
The scandalous toll is revealed in the Sunday Mirror's which shows how the authorities were forced to honour dangerous parents’ human rights - despite knowing of their abusive behaviour.
Today we are launching a campaign to demand changes to the law.
Our probe reveals professionals knew each of the innocent kids was in the clutches of someone with a history of abuse.
Yet there is currently no law to protect them.
Under human rights laws, parents have a right to a family life which has to be respected by authorities.
The legal blind spot means parents’ rights are continually put before the safety of the child, often regardless of what has happened in the past.
Today, together with top lawyers, politicians and charities, we join with victims’ families to call on the Government to change the law and save lives.
Our campaign – Save Kids From Violent Parents – follows an investigation which revealed awful cases of abuse, torture and death.
