No Child of Mine
Title card
Directed byPeter Kosminsky
Written byGuy Hibbert
Produced byPeter Kosminsky
StarringBrooke Kinsella
Colin Salmon
Billy Geraghty
Sharon Small
Geoffrey Church
Ginny Holder
CinematographyMike Shrimpton
Edited byChris Ridsdale
Production
companies
Meridian Broadcasting
Stonehenge Films
United Film and Television Productions
Release date
25 February 1997
Running time
83 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

No Child of Mine is a 1997 British docudrama-television film on ITV starring Brooke Kinsella. It documents the true case of a girl named Kerry who was sexually abused throughout her childhood.[1] It premiered on Tuesday, February 25, 1997 in the United Kingdom.

Plot

13-year-old Kerry, whose last name is not disclosed for safety reasons, endures problems at home with her parents fighting each other and eventually separating. Shortly after, her mother's new boyfriend, Graham, moves in with them and begins physically and sexually abusing her. Her mother, Linda, also occasionally takes part in the abuse, making her daughter perform oral sex on her. Kerry's father, Jim, a construction worker, attempts to manipulate her into prostitution, something she is unaware of until a few truck drivers "borrow" her.

Kerry's situation worsens at home and she decides to run away after Jim attacks Linda and Graham for abusing Kerry. One of her class teachers, Paul suddenly becomes aware of her situation and attempts to have her placed in childcare. The class teacher, social workers, and friends attempt to file charges of sexual and physical abuse on Kerry's behalf against her mother's boyfriend. However, the Crown Prosecution Service later declines to continue the case, arguing there is not enough legal evidence to support the allegations. Kerry is placed into foster care, but struggles to settle in and repeatedly destroys property, making it impossible for the foster family to keep her.

Kerry is then placed into a care home. She is seduced by a pimp (who knows exactly how Kerry feels about living with a stubborn mother and stepfather like hers who don't understand her), and for some time willingly leases herself for profit. A social worker in the childcare home also begins to sexually abuse her. Feeling helpless, Kerry frequently visits her class teacher and tries to move in with him, but he is unable to care for her. He consults his friend and child-support agent to have Kerry placed somewhere safe, but her case cannot be given any more priority than that of any other child.

Towards the end of the film, Kerry runs away and finds a small and peaceful care home in a rural location. They decline her offer of money, which she obtained by prostituting herself. Traumatized, Kerry does not speak for the past 5 days there. Then 12 days later, as she begins to trust the people in the home, she begins to reveal her story after a woman in the home saw inside that Kerry's been through an abusive life. While her abusers did not suffer any legal consequences, she was finally free from her abuse. It's then revealed that she went on to study at a university.

Cast

  • Brooke Kinsella as Kerry
  • Colin Salmon as Paul
  • Bill Geraghty as Jim
  • Sharon Small as Linda
  • Geoffrey Church as Graham
  • Ginny Holder as Bridget
  • Darren Tighe as Mick
  • Kate Byers as Matty
  • Katie Lyons as Tracy
  • Jill Marie Cooper as Lucy (as Jill Cooper)
  • Billie Holmes as Paula
  • Anna Waters as Donna
  • Bridget Hodson as Miss Lewis
  • Alex Knight as Steve
  • Phil Herne as Shane
  • Ravin J. Ganatra as Len
  • Edward Highmore as Ray
  • Karl Jenkinson as Derek
  • Judy Norman as Vanessa
  • James Powell as Peter
  • Jason Hall as Mike
  • Julie Smith as Carly
  • Ralph Van Dijk as Male Doctor
  • Melanie Ramsay as P.C. Kate Booth
  • Lavinia Bertram as Female Doctor
  • Nita Gale as Sally
  • Jason Stracey as Vic
  • Annie Hayes as Pam
  • Natalie Ratcliff as Denise
  • Barry McNicholl as Gary
  • Kay Dacey as First Girl
  • Diane Adderley as Childline Voice (voice)

Production

The film was written by Guy Hibbert for Meridian Broadcasting/ITV. It was produced and directed by Peter Kosminsky.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "I felt alone, dirty and guilty". tes.co.uk. Archived from the original on 11 March 2016.
  2. ↑ Gary Couzens; lmackay36 (25 February 1997). "No Child of Mine (TV Movie 1997)". IMDb. Retrieved 17 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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