‘Claire,’ says Caroline, swivelling towards her, ‘the parents I represent for Mothers of the Innocent – and they’re not just mothers, by the way, they’re loving fathers as well – these parents are extremely concerned—’

‘Everyone’s concerned. But what responsibility do parents have for ensuring this kind of thing doesn’t happen to their child?’

‘Well, I’m not sure I understand the question, because I don’t see how parents are in any way to blame for the fact that paedophiles and abusers get into the education—’

‘No, we can’t blame parents for that,’ Claire says, ‘they’ve got nothing to do with hiring teachers—’

‘Parents are not to blame,’ Rob nods.

‘—but still they must bear some responsibility, mustn’t they, as parents, somewhere along the line? Isn’t that what parents are for?’

‘I don’t see your logic,’ Caroline says. ‘If I take my child to the zoo, and she gets mauled by a tiger, is that my fault? No, it’s not my fault: it’s the zoo’s fault, it’s the zookeeper’s fault. That’s just common sense.’

‘Yes,’ Rob says, ‘and let’s keep in mind here, the tragic exploitation of this young girl was a freak occurrence, and is not—’

‘But Caroline,’ Claire says, ‘your zoo metaphor, how does it apply in this case? Because we’ve been told several times, by the school, by the media, even by you, that Beverley was a vulnerable young girl, that she was preyed upon because she was vulnerable – because of something in her personality or her circumstances, something about her – and that’s not what tigers do, is it?’

‘Tigers,’ Caroline says, ‘and obviously that’s a metaphor, tigers are predators, they eat babies’ – Rob nods vigorously at this – ‘they attack babies and young children, not adults who can fend for themselves—’

‘Well, I’m not sure that’s true,’ says Claire, ‘but even so, that would be based on physical size, not psychological issues, wouldn’t it? And yet Beverley was emotionally vulnerable, you’ve said, psychologically vulnerable—’

‘Yes—’

—Stay on topic. You’re wandering off.

‘—and you said her vulnerability had something to do with the situation in which she found herself—’

‘Yes,’ Caroline says, ‘generally we find it’s the vulnerable children, the isolated girls, that abusers are drawn towards. Schools should be doing more—’

‘So they’re vulnerable, they’re isolated’ – Claire is counting off the points on her fingers – ‘they’re maybe less aware of boundaries than other children, they maybe have fewer people to confide in—’

‘Yes, that’s right, that’s what we tend to find—’

‘—and yet you want me to believe that parents bear no responsibility at all for their children being in that vulnerable state, which they are in before the abuser even arrives on the scene?’

—Claire, you’re way off. Get back on the schools.