parents of teenage children who should know better, saying, ‘She’s nearly sixteen, she’s free to do what she wants’. To read stuff like this was so upsetting. How could these people not understand that this was abuse, not romance? Gemma had only turned fifteen in June, so presumably the ‘relationship’ had started when she was still fourteen.
Gemma was my little girl; Jeremy Forrest was a predatory monster.
Being a small neighbourhood, I knew the postman, and he would look a bit sheepish when he knocked on the door with armfuls of mail. He was very respectful, though, and even months later would ask us if we were OK and tell us if reporters were still hanging around. It was incredible, the amount of support we got from the most unlikely people.
Darcee arrived quite early and helped me get through all the ‘normal’ things – getting Lilly settled, getting Alfie off to school, and so on – and tried to make me eat something. I’d been surviving on coffee for the past few days; I just wasn’t interested in food. Over the course of that week, I lost a stone, but I can assure you that it is not a diet I would recommend.
One of the first phone calls I received that day was fromthe Sussex Police media team, telling me that the BBC1 programme Crimewatch was planning to run a report on Gemma that night and asking me if I would be prepared to appear on it. As before, my immediate reaction was: ‘Will it help bring back my daughter?’ The police media team were very honest with me. They said it wouldn’t necessarily make a difference, and there was already much going on in France which the press didn’t know about, but equally it wouldn’t do any harm either. I didn’t like the idea of leaving the house for the day – Gemma could call at any time, after all, and I had the other children to consider – so it was agreed that Max would do it instead.
Darcee and I spent the remainder of the day waiting for news. At that stage, I felt as if everything was out of my control and that I had pretty much done all that I could. I logged on to Facebook and tried to catch up with everything that was happening on social media. There were lots of messages from well-wishers and an old school friend of Gemma’s had set up a Facebook support group. She became my eyes and ears as to what was happening on social media and was good at warning me if someone was being more interested in the case than they should be – she could spot disturbed people very quickly!
The press, meanwhile, had found more songs online that Forrest had written for Gemma. They also started to piece together Twitter conversations that Gemma and Forrest had shared and random comments that she had posted on Facebook. If there was anything to be dug up, it seemed the newspapers managed to find it.
At 3pm that day, Forrest’s parents, Jim and Julie, appeared at a press conference at Lewes police station. I only got tosee it much later in the day and, to be honest, I wasn’t all that interested in what they had to say; I was more interested in what they looked like and whether they seemed like good people. I could instantly see the pain on their faces. I could see his mother’s fear, the worry, the strain and devastation. I could hear his father’s voice shaking as he tried to hold it together. I walked away from the TV with a very saddened heart. What a mess …
Following Mark Ling’s conversations the day before, his colleague, Neil Ralph, called to ask if I would send Louise a text to see if I could get her to open up to me about Gemma. I realised it was a very scary thing for her to be going through, but at this stage it was crucial that she told me the truth.
This is what I wrote to Louise:
Hi honey, it’s Gem’s mum. Sweetheart, first of all I just wanted to check you’re OK? It’s been horrible not to have seen you since this started as I’m guessing you’re so upset. It’s been like living out a nightmare here. Lee keeps crying,
Gemma was my little girl; Jeremy Forrest was a predatory monster.
Being a small neighbourhood, I knew the postman, and he would look a bit sheepish when he knocked on the door with armfuls of mail. He was very respectful, though, and even months later would ask us if we were OK and tell us if reporters were still hanging around. It was incredible, the amount of support we got from the most unlikely people.
Darcee arrived quite early and helped me get through all the ‘normal’ things – getting Lilly settled, getting Alfie off to school, and so on – and tried to make me eat something. I’d been surviving on coffee for the past few days; I just wasn’t interested in food. Over the course of that week, I lost a stone, but I can assure you that it is not a diet I would recommend.
One of the first phone calls I received that day was fromthe Sussex Police media team, telling me that the BBC1 programme Crimewatch was planning to run a report on Gemma that night and asking me if I would be prepared to appear on it. As before, my immediate reaction was: ‘Will it help bring back my daughter?’ The police media team were very honest with me. They said it wouldn’t necessarily make a difference, and there was already much going on in France which the press didn’t know about, but equally it wouldn’t do any harm either. I didn’t like the idea of leaving the house for the day – Gemma could call at any time, after all, and I had the other children to consider – so it was agreed that Max would do it instead.
Darcee and I spent the remainder of the day waiting for news. At that stage, I felt as if everything was out of my control and that I had pretty much done all that I could. I logged on to Facebook and tried to catch up with everything that was happening on social media. There were lots of messages from well-wishers and an old school friend of Gemma’s had set up a Facebook support group. She became my eyes and ears as to what was happening on social media and was good at warning me if someone was being more interested in the case than they should be – she could spot disturbed people very quickly!
The press, meanwhile, had found more songs online that Forrest had written for Gemma. They also started to piece together Twitter conversations that Gemma and Forrest had shared and random comments that she had posted on Facebook. If there was anything to be dug up, it seemed the newspapers managed to find it.
At 3pm that day, Forrest’s parents, Jim and Julie, appeared at a press conference at Lewes police station. I only got tosee it much later in the day and, to be honest, I wasn’t all that interested in what they had to say; I was more interested in what they looked like and whether they seemed like good people. I could instantly see the pain on their faces. I could see his mother’s fear, the worry, the strain and devastation. I could hear his father’s voice shaking as he tried to hold it together. I walked away from the TV with a very saddened heart. What a mess …
Following Mark Ling’s conversations the day before, his colleague, Neil Ralph, called to ask if I would send Louise a text to see if I could get her to open up to me about Gemma. I realised it was a very scary thing for her to be going through, but at this stage it was crucial that she told me the truth.
This is what I wrote to Louise:
Hi honey, it’s Gem’s mum. Sweetheart, first of all I just wanted to check you’re OK? It’s been horrible not to have seen you since this started as I’m guessing you’re so upset. It’s been like living out a nightmare here. Lee keeps crying,
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