The Big Question

Eve Rank – Inspired Services
This case makes me really angry and there was no justice in court for Patrick Markcrow, the son who Wendolyn Markcrow smothered. Why was she treated differently from other people – she admitted manslaughter on grounds of diminished responsibility? It is because her son had a learning disability and everybody felt sorry for her because of that.

Kerry Evans – Parent of two autistic children
I have two boys with severe learning difficulties and have fought for basic help to the point of financial and marital ruin. A hard life is not a licence to kill. But social services seem deaf to the risk factors involved when budgets are placed before the emotional well-being of carers and the lives of their charges.

Jean Stogdon – Grandparents Plus
Sometimes the support that’s offered by social services to carers doesn’t fit. And if the family say the support offered doesn’t fit, it doesn’t fit. There’s some wonderful stuff going on in some places, but social services need to listen more carefully to what people want. Wendolyn Markcrow wasn’t getting what she needed to cope as a carer.

Richard West – Inspired Services
All people have a right to life and this includes people with a learning disability. Services failed to recognise the problems this woman and her son were having and didn’t support her enough. I don’t think Valuing People has done enough for people like this. This is a sad and important case and should be acted upon and not forgotten.