'Let me see Lee-Anne's son'

12:28pm Wednesday 19th November 2008

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A GRANDMOTHER is devastated after she was unable to see her great grandson - whose mum was killed last month - on his fourth birthday.

Jean Davis, whose granddaughter, Lee-Anne Brown, was found fatally injured in a Timperley flat, was horrified when Lee-Anne’s son, Jack Astall, went to live with the parents of the man accused of her murder.

Mark Astall, 24, was charged after police were called to Hartford Gardens following reports that 21-year-old Lee-Anne had been found there.

The former Wellington School pupil was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital where attempts to revive her failed. A post mortem revealed she died as a result of pressure to the neck.

Now Jean has condemned actions that saw Jack move in with his paternal grandparents, Maureen and James Astall, in Stockport.

Jean, 61, of Summer Avenue, said: “I’m so upset that I wasn’t able to see him or wish him a happy birthday last Friday.

“Jack’s like a little zombie, he seemed like he was just going through the motions when I saw him a week last Friday. He never said a word about his mother and I wonder if he’s bottling it up.

“All the fun has gone out of him. I don’t want him to become a stranger.

“He seems to have gone inside himself. He was a lovely little thing, full of fun but now he’s just like a shell. Now I believe he will have to have therapy because he’s having nightmares. It’s breaking all ourhearts.

“He always used to call me nana and the last time I saw him he called me aunty Jean and that hurt a lot.”

“All I want is a fair share in seeing my great grandson and at the end of the day we want what’s best for him.”

Jean recognises that because of her diabetes she would not be able to look after Jack but said there were people in her family that could and called for a proper discussion about his future.

She added: “Morally it’s wrong. We’ll never see Lee-Anne again and to take away my great grandson at the same time, I just can’t cope with it all.

“I don’t think Jack is in any danger whatsoever but I am concerned for his mental welfare. He’s been taken out of his comfort zone. I’m not prepared to beg and plead because seeing Jack is my right.”

Jean also paid tribute to Lee-Anne: “She was unbelievable - as beautiful on the inside as the out, genuine and loving. She was a wonderful mother and played with Jack as if she was three-year-old herself. She said having Jack was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She gave him so much care and affection from the bottom of her heart.

“She was giving and never thought badly of anyone and loved to have fun and especially loved to dance. It was always a joy to watch her and it didn’t take much to make her happy. Those are the times I try to think of. I have a lot of fond memories. Her death has snuffed a light out in my heart.”

Maureen Astall said: “Jean has never got in touch with us but other people have. If Jean wants to see Jack she can get in touch with me.”

Trafford Council’s corporate director of children and young people’s service, Chris Pratt, said that a local authority can only remove a child from a relative if it has been granted parental responsibility for the child and there are legal grounds for the removal.