Ghouls

Police today vowed to make arrests unless people stop having their photographs taken outside the house in Sabden where Joshua Massey-Hodgkinson drowned in a bath.

And the family of Wendy Barlow, who is serving a three-year jail term after admitting the death, appealed for people to end their "ghoulish curiosity."

Joshua's parents, Emma Massey and Simon Hodgkinson, also said the sick sightseers were preventing Joshua from resting in peace.

Joshua, of St Paul's Terrace, Clitheroe, was staying with Barlow, 38, overnight in April 2004 and drowned in the childminder's bath while she was drunk.

When Barlow was sentenced at Preston Crown Court in March, her £90,000 semi-detached home was widely featured on TV news reports.

Her husband, Paul Barlow, still lives at the address with the couple's three children.

Hesaid: "It is just a case that we want to be left alone. We are not asking for special treatment at all, we just want to be able to try and get on with our lives."

Since Barlow's sentencing, her husband and children have received constant help from her extended family, all of who live in Accrington.

Cousin Mark Strutz, of Whalley Road, Clayton-le-Moors, said: "It's completely ghoulish for them. People are turning up in the street and taking photos of themselves outside.

"We think it is just harassment. It's horrible. Why would anyone want to do that?

"We just want people to stay away. It's ruining the children' lives.

"The people in Sabden have been great and really supportive but people are actually travelling to Sabden to look at the house, point, and have their picture taken."

Joshua's mother, Emma Massey, said: "This is absolutely sick. We want Joshua to be able to rest in peace.

"I can't begin to think what goes through someone's mind to make them think 'Oh I want to have my picture taken there.'

Dr Tony Black, a criminal psychologist, said: "Some people get drawn by the scandalous and the sensationalist and I think that is what is happening here.

"In years gone by people would go to hangings, they seemed to get a kick out of it.

"To take photos is presumably to show friends 'look where I've been.' People focus on a place, such as where the West murders took place in Gloucester, and will be drawn to it."

People in Hyde, Greater Manchester, reported being distressed when people began turning up at the surgery of serial killer Harold Shipman to have their photos taken.

Inspector Bob Ford, of Clitheroe Police, said: "We are aware of instances like this in Sabden and reports of people taking photographs. It isn't something we come across a lot but it does happen."

"If it continues, we will look to take action under harassment legislation. It leaves a very bad taste in the mouth."

The charge of harassment carries up to six months in prison and up to £5,000 in fines.

An independent inquiry is still looking into the death of Joshua, to determine if agencies such as Ofsted, the body which regulates childminding, could have done anything to prevent his death. The Evening Telegraph has launched a campaign calling for improvements in the way childminders are regulated and trained and increased information for parents.