The Boy No One Loved: A Heartbreaking True Story of Abuse, Abandonment and Betrayal

The Boy No One Loved: A Heartbreaking True Story of Abuse, Abandonment and Betrayal
Casey Watson

Sunday Times bestselling author and foster carer Casey Watson’s first heartbreaking memoir.Justin was five years old; his brothers two and three. Their mother, a heroin addict, had left them alone again. Later that day, after trying to burn down the family home, Justin was taken into care.Justin was taken into care at the age of five after deliberately burning down his family home. Six years on, after 20 failed placements, Justin arrives at Casey’s home. Casey and her husband Mike are specialist foster carers. They practice a new style of foster care that focuses on modifying the behaviour of profoundly damaged children. They are Justin’s last hope, and it quickly becomes clear that they are facing a big challenge.Try as they might to make him welcome, he seems determined to strip his life of all the comforts they bring him, violently lashing out at schoolmates and family and throwing any affection they offer him back in their faces. After a childhood filled with hurt and rejection, Justin simply doesn’t want to know. But, as it soon emerges, this is only the tip of a chilling iceberg.A visit to Justin’s mother on Boxing Day reveals that there are some very dark underlying problems that Justin has never spoken about. As the full picture becomes clearer, and the horrific truth of Justin’s early life is revealed, Casey and her family finally start to understand the pain he has suffered…Includes a sample chapter of Crying for Help.

Casey Watson

The Boy No One Loved

Copyright

This book is a work of non-fiction based on the author’s experiences. In order to protect privacy, names, identifying characteristics, dialogue and details have been changed or reconstructed.

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First published by HarperElement 2011

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THE BOY NO ONE LOVED. © Casey Watson 2011. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.

Casey Watson asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

Source ISBN: 9780007436569

Ebook Edition © AUGUST 2011 ISBN: 9780007436576

Version 2016-10-18

Dedication

To my wonderful and supportive family

Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter 1

Funny the little details that tend to stick in your…

Chapter 2

I followed Kieron up the stairs, Riley close behind me,…

Chapter 3

I’m mad about Christmas – always have been and always will…

Chapter 4

I woke on Christmas morning in my usual good spirits,…

Chapter 5

One of the main things Mike and I had to…

Chapter 6

‘I just can’t help it,’ Justin said. ‘I know I…

Chapter 7

We’d been sitting there together for an hour by now.

Chapter 8

It was the following Saturday morning and I was on…

Chapter 9

It was a freezing cold day at the end of…

Chapter 10

The end of the week saw another email arrive from…

Chapter 11

April had arrived and with it some slightly warmer weather…

Chapter 12