CURLED up in a ball after being drop-kicked down a hallway into a radiator, four-year-old Caroline Eshghi looked up in horror at the woman who was supposed to love and protect her.
Instead, vile Melanie Burmingham ignored her screams and landed yet another blow, leaving her daughter in agony.
Caroline remembers being abused from the age of four by her mum[/caption]
Terrified about what her mother would do if she ever spoke out about the abuse, which spanned 15-and-a-half years while they were living in Bristol, Somerset, and Wiltshire, Caroline kept her harrowing ordeal to herself for decades.
She finally went to the police and reported her in 2019, after Burmingham tried to make contact with Caroline’s eldest son.
On the first day of the trial at Portsmouth Crown Court, Burmingham, now 76, pleaded guilty and was charged with one count of cruelty to a person under 16 years contrary to section 1 of the Children and Young Person Act 1933.
She was handed a 20-month suspended sentence, which Caroline appealed, and it was upgraded it to a custodial sentence by Lord Justice Stuart-Smith who agreed it was unduly lenient.
As Caroline’s abuse took place in the 1970s and 80s, sentencing was done in line with the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, for which the charge then carried a maximum sentence of two years.
Under current legislation, the charge has a minimum term of nine years and a maximum of 14 years. But in UK law, historically-committed crimes can only be sentenced by the law at the time of the offence – something Caroline is now campaigning to change.
Burmingham, formerly Snell and Eshghi, is due to be released on parole in January 2026 after serving just 40 per cent of her sentence.
Mum-of-two Caroline, who now lives in Cornwall, told The Sun: “It was an absolute insult that she got such a short sentence.
“I had my childhood taken from me by her abuse, and she barely got a slap on the wrist.
“Our judicial system is out of step in reflecting society values around those who commit child abuse.
“It needs to catch up with changes made to legislation so that those who hurt children face the strongest sentencing guidelines and prison.’’
One of Caroline’s earliest memories of her mother is when she held her in a freezing bath, forcing her head under the water as she struggled to breathe.
“She was like a Gestapo officer, ordering me to do chores and then beating me as they were never right,” she recalled.
She was like a Gestapo officer, ordering me to do chores and then beating me as they were never right
Caroline Eshghi
“I had my hair ripped out, I was punched and kicked almost daily.
“When I was four, I remember Melanie drop-kicking me out of nowhere down a flight of stairs, and I smacked into a radiator. It was a big L-shaped hallway, and she kicked me from one end to the other.
“I screamed in pain and terror, but she continued to kick me. Afterwards, I was peeing blood.
“I was terrified as she looked at me with her face twisted in a demonic rage.”
‘Monster’
Caroline is campaigning for a change in the law to give historic abusers longer sentences[/caption]
Caroline doesn’t remember a time when her mum wasn’t abusive towards her[/caption]
Social services became aware of Caroline being abused but no action was taken[/caption]
She said the abuse got “significantly worse” when they moved to a detached house because Burmingham didn’t worry about people hearing her screams.
“Melanie was a monster. I don’t have a single good memory from the 15-and-a-half years I lived with her,” Caroline said.
“We moved over 20 times, so I was isolated while she continued her tirade of abuse.
“She was an alcoholic and went into these alcohol-fuelled rampages that would last all night.
“She made me hold my arm out and if it dropped, she stubbed out her cigarettes on me – this started when I was nine.
She made me hold my arm out and if it dropped, she stubbed out her cigarettes on me – this started when I was nine
Caroline Eshghi
“She’d sit in an armchair with a glass of whiskey in one hand and a big knotted walking stick in the other. She’d beat me with it across my back. I was permanently covered in bruises and welts.
“When I was 12 a PE teacher audibly gasped after seeing it. I felt embarrassed and ashamed that someone knew my secret. But nothing was done.”
Social services were alerted in 1975, when Caroline was seven and living in Bristol.
She claims Burmingham’s suspected abuse wasn’t investigated, nor was her body checked for injuries.
She was under Avon and Bristol social services, but cannot get access to her file as it has reportedly been lost.
Let down
Caroline left home when she was 15 to get away from her abusive mother[/caption]
In 1977 Caroline was examined by a doctor after being admitted to hospital as a result of her mum’s regular beatings.
The doctor’s notes stated her injuries to her face were the result of an assault by her mother and she was a child at risk, but no further action was taken.
Caroline said: “Melanie had beaten me with a metal wire, leaving cuts across my face. A social worker asked if she beat me, and I said no because I was scared of what Melanie would do.”
From that point Caroline claims no one in authority ever checked her body for further abuse injuries.
Despite being let down by Social Services, she still believes it fulfils an important role.
“We cannot expect Social Services and charities to hold all the responsibility, the problem within our society is too big,” Caroline said.
“They are staffed by warriors who do what they can to save children and families in crisis. Sadly, when they get it wrong, it can have catastrophic results.”
She’d sit in an armchair with a glass of whiskey in one hand and a big knotted walking stick in the other. She’d beat me with it across my back. I was permanently covered in bruises and welts
Caroline Eshghi
Caroline claimed her aunt knew about the abuse but “didn’t do anything” – and was against her going to the police.
“The time I spent with her family was like a dream because I wasn’t living in fear for those days,” she said.
“I felt so close to them that I moved to Cornwall to be near, but that was shattered when I told my aunt I wanted to report what Melanie had done when I was in my 30s.
“She went ballistic and told me that if I went to the police, I’d no longer be a part of the family. It shut me down completely.
“It took years until I had the courage to report what had happened.
“My aunt enabled Melanie and left me in hell, and she holds responsibility for that. You can’t just leave children being abused because you’re scared to rock the boat or get it wrong. She made a decision to do nothing.”
Quest for justice
As a parent now herself, Caroline can’t understand Burmingham’s behaviour[/caption]
Now a mother herself, Caroline doesn’t understand how anyone who was aware of her abuse allowed Burmingham to keep custody of her.
And now she hopes to prevent any other child who has been historically abused see their abuser given a low sentence.
The ONS estimates one in five adults between the ages of 18 and 74 were abused as a child or witnessed abuse.
Caroline, an NSPCC ambassador, is campaigning to change the law, so abusers are sentenced under current guidelines.
She hopes that speaking out will help others hold their abusers to account.
She said: “My greatest thanks goes to my children, who are now young adults, through whom I was able to experience how truly wonderful it is to be a parent.
“People say I am brave for going public and waving my anonymity, but the real brave souls are those out there now surviving the horror of child abuse in real time.
“We need to accept that monsters are real and are masters of deception, so they can continue to abuse. Only a society willing to stop looking the other way can create change.
“Please help survivors of child abuse to get the justice they deserve.”
How to spot child abuse
According to the NSPCC, these are the signs that a child might be suffering abuse at home:
- unexplained changes in behaviour or personality
- becoming withdrawn
- seeming anxious
- becoming uncharacteristically aggressive
- lacks social skills and has few friends, if any
- poor bond or relationship with a parent
- knowledge of adult issues inappropriate for their age
- running away or going missing
- always choosing to wear clothes which cover their body.
You can contact the NSPCC Helpline by calling 0808 800 5000 or emailing [email protected]
Caroline is being supported by her MP Andrew George, who has raised her campaign with the government, alongside her government petition.
Andrew said: “Caroline has demonstrated incredible strength of character to reopen the wounds of the past, and to face the consequences of a system which seems as if it is deliberately designed to discourage the pursuit of justice and to put obstacles in the way of victims who seek justice.
“It must concern us all that there must be thousands of now adults who do not feel themselves to have the inner strength, stamina, and support to secure justice for themselves.
“Though her perpetrator is now (all too briefly) behind bars, Caroline has not received the full justice which she deserves. It is absurd that we have a system which is more lenient towards child abusers who commit their crimes before a certain date.
“Child cruelty is child cruelty, and punishment must reflect public disgust towards perpetrators.”
To sign Caroline’s petition to change the law around historic child abuse, click here.
