Caroline Eshghi, a survivor of horrific child abuse, is demanding a change in the law after her mother was released from prison after serving just eight months for years of torture. Melanie Burmingham subjected Caroline to beatings, cigarette burns, starvation, and force-feeding rotten milk during her childhood in the 1970s and 1980s.
A Childhood of Torture
Caroline, now 58, recalls being kicked across a hallway like a football, left to urinate blood, and covered in bruises and burns. She says her mother's cruelty was sadistic and escalated over time. Despite social services being alerted in 1975, no proper investigation occurred, and Caroline slipped through the net.
Inadequate Sentencing
Burmingham was charged under the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, which carried a maximum sentence of two years at the time of the offences. She received a 20-month suspended sentence in March 2025, which was overturned on appeal to a 20-month prison term. However, she was released in January 2026 after serving only eight months.
Caroline argues that if the same crimes were committed after 2005, her mother could have faced up to 14 years in prison. She is campaigning for retrospective sentencing guidelines to be updated for historical child abuse cases.
Call for Justice
Caroline has launched a petition that has garnered over 42,000 signatures, aiming to take it to Parliament. She wants the law to reflect modern standards of justice, stating that "people like Melanie should not be able to skip justice just because they committed their crimes before 2005."
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said courts must sentence according to the law at the time of the offence, but judges can consider the full seriousness of harm. MP Andrew George supports Caroline's campaign, noting that the law currently treats offenders leniently based on the date of the crime.
Caroline is also writing a memoir to expose the abuse and support other victims seeking justice.
