‘Yeah, then they threatened us afterwards. Jed and Sammy told me and Debs if we ever breathed a word about what they’d done, they would kill our mum.’

‘And did you tell anyone?’

‘No, not for ages, but then my mum noticed me getting really fat and that was when I found out I was pregnant. Even then, I didn’t tell her the truth. I was frightened of her getting killed, so I told her that I’d consented to sex with some boy I’d met in Pitsea market.’

‘So, did you get rid of the baby?’ Frankie asked her.

‘Yeah, but not until after I’d given birth. His name is John and he lives with my aunt in Kent. I was too far gone to have an abortion, so we moved away and my aunt is now bringing him up as her own.’

‘Do you still have any contact with him?’ Frankie asked nosily. The story sounded a little far-fetched for her liking.

Katie burst into tears. ‘No, when he was first born I couldn’t even look at him, but then one day I went to see him and he was so gorgeous. He looked nothing like Sammy – he was as blonde as Sammy is dark. My mum went mental when she found out I’d turned up at my aunt’s trailer. Our relationship has never been the same since she found out I was pregnant and she’d made me promise that I would never try to contact John. That’s why I ended up in here. I so wanted him back that I kidnapped him and ran away to Scotland.’

‘But how can they lock you up if John’s really yours?’ Frankie asked suspiciously.

‘I never told the police that he was mine. My sister said she would never forgive me if I opened up a can of worms and I, stupidly, listened to her. I got two years for his kidnap and I’ve already done six months of that. When the solicitor told me that I was looking at a custodial sentence, I had a couple of flings, hoping that if I got pregnant they wouldn’t put me away. That’s how I ended up with this little one,’ Katie said, patting her swollen belly.

‘Can you do me a favour?’ Frankie asked bluntly. She wasn’t sure whether to believe Katie’s yarn or not, but she had no other way of getting a message to Jed.

Katie shrugged. ‘What?’

‘Do you know anyone that can get a message to Jed for me? My kids ran away from him recently to find me, and my solicitor is taking the case to court so I can have visits with them. Jed, being Jed, is contesting it. He doesn’t want them to see me ever again.’

‘My cousin Danny still sees Jed. What is the message?’