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West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 18 April 2008

Report a disservice to fosterers

• I AM writing to you following your wholly inaccurate article on the front page of last week’s West End Extra (Girls enslaved into prostitution by carer, April 11).
The article falsely states that some of Westminster’s finest foster carers supplied four vulnerable young women with drugs while in their care and “enslaved them in a prostitution ring”.
This is a false representation of the facts of the matter.
To make clear, none of Westminster’s foster carers committed this dreadful offence, but rather a lone woman, unknown by and independent of the council.
This woman was later convicted for her crimes.
Not only is your article an injustice to our foster carers who do an amazing job looking after Westminster’s vulnerable children often under challenging circumstances, but it is also an injustice to your readers by failing to provide them with a complete and accurate picture of a very difficult and sensitive situation.
Indeed, it would have been sensible – not to mention good journalistic practice – for your reporter to contact the council’s press office to ask for a fuller briefing on this issue by way of context or background as opposed to simply lifting chunks of text out of a council report.
We take great pride in our foster carers who commit themselves to providing children with safe and caring homes.
Your lazy reporting has done them a great disservice and denigrated the valuable work they do in Westminster and beyond.
Michael O’Connor
Director of Children, Young People & Family Services
Westminster City Council

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld.
Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number.
Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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