Mum’s horror after daughter escapes Darlington school through fence

The pick-up horror took place at Red Hall Primary School on Wednesday (June 3) when the 36-year-old arrived to police officers on the ground and drones in the sky.

The dental therapist, who wishes to remain nameless, said it was there that she was told her daughter, who has autism and ADHD, had fled for the “third time in six months”. 

Her daughter, who is part of the school’s social, emotional and mental health needs provision, is said to have escaped with two other children aged seven and nine.

Around an hour after police arrived, she said the three children were found a staggering two miles away from the school by the River Skerne, near Darlington Police Station.

Julie Davidson, executive headteacher of Red Hall, said the school takes the safety and wellbeing of all students “extremely seriously”.

But despite the head saying parents were “contacted promptly”, the mum-of-three claims she only found out at pick up – and that a parent of another missing child was told by police.

“It was horrific. You don’t expect something to happen like that in this day and age”, the woman, who lives at West Park, said. 

“I just turned up at the school to find police vans, and at this point, there were drones out. I had gone in to get her, and they said she went missing with two other boys. 

“[The school] explained that the kids had escaped again but had to contact police as there had been no sightings of them for the last hour.”

She continued: “I just felt sick. I thought something really bad had happened. It was pouring down that day as well.

“They were found just before 5pm, they were found near the River Skerne, next to the town.”

The woman, who has lived in Darlington since she was 15, said it is the third time that her daughter has absconded in the last six months. 

“I feel as though the school doesn’t seem to care, they are not getting it”, she argued.

“It is supposed to be a unit for kids who have special needs, but they have escaped three times. 

“The last two times they were found within one hour in the Red Hall estate, but we were again never informed until we got to the school.” 

She now feels that a “serious safeguarding investigation” must be carried out and is due to visit the Headingley Crescent school for a meeting on Monday. 

“Anything could have happened to them”, she said. “The fact that this is the third time as well…

“It is not like this is a one off. It makes you not want to drop your kid off at school. You drop them off at school, and you expect them to be safe. 

“If this happened to me, she wouldn’t be in my care.

“[My daughter] is fine. She doesn’t understand the consequences or the dangers. The school is more than aware of that.”

A Durham Police spokesperson said: “Police were called just before 2.20pm on Wednesday (June 3) to assist with a search for three children who had been reported missing from Red Hall Primary School, in Darlington.

“Officers attended and located the children around an hour later.”

All full statement from Ms Davidson said: “We take the safety and wellbeing of all our students extremely seriously. When this incident took place, the parents of the children involved were contacted promptly to let them know what had happened, as were the police.”