This story has been running in the mainstream media, both local and national press, since mother of five Natalie Bracht, left her home in Sunderland on 17th May this year and went on the run. With joint British and German nationality, Natalie settled in Sunderland with her five daughters in 2006. She told local papers and social services that she had fled her home city of Dusseldorf to escape a dangerous husband involved in a religious cult. She was provided with housing and benefits etc but whether the authorities believed this story or not is unclear. What we do know is that Childrens Services were involved in the case from the beginning.
By May this year Natalie knew that the authorities were planning on taking her children into case so she abandoned her home and headed to London. The first newspaper coverage of the story picks up on CCTV footage provided by the police showing Natalie dress in 'muslim clothes' to hide her appearance. Those stories didn't reveal that her kids were subject of a care order, they just said they were concerned about her emotional well-being and the kids missing out on school.
At the end of May the story developed to include the father of three of Natalies children who had no apparently come over to the UK to help police with their search. This was the same guy that Natalie had implied was involved in an arson attack on her Dusseldorf home two years earlier but no mention of this in the media and the one online news article which mentioned this vanished from the Sunderland Echo website.
It was clear there was more to the story than the police and papers were letting on. They had traced her to the Harlesden area of the capital and bumped the story back into the media on the 5th June with a poster campaign to appeal for information from the public. However they provided no further information about why she was being sought.
More information came out on the 11th June when police statements made the claim that Natalie had recently been psychologically assessed as having Histrionic Personality Disorder. Press coverage listed symptoms of the disorder as including a tendency to make rash decisions, excessive dramatics with exaggerated displays of emotion, seeking of reassurance or approval, excessive sensitivity to criticism or disapproval, rapidly shifting emotional states and the need to be the centre of attention.
It was obvious that this new information was designed to discredit Natalie and any explanation of her plight that she might have given to those helping her. Hoever, those who had been sheltering her did not recognise these symptoms in her and so the claim only helped to re-enforce the feeling that there was something dodgy going on.
Another week passed before the police revealed that the children were subject of a care order. It seems that the police would have liked too have revealed this obvious fact much sooner but had to obtain a court order in order to make the information public. Again, this new information would have had no impact on the people she was staying with as the claim that the authorities wanted to take her kids away was generally the only part of the story they'd heard and the reason she was given help.
The information that the mother had a mental illness and that the authorities planned to take her kids away ensured that the story stayed in the media for several more days but then there was another lull. It is clear that Natalie had by now already been moved from London to Somerset and it was only when somebody was arrested for the alleged theft of Natalie's credit card that the story progressed again.
On Monday 23th and Tuesday 24th, a chain reaction of arrests took place and properties were searched in London, Bristol and Yeovil. However, despite the tip off, the police had failed to find Natalie and her kids. Police issued yet another statement saying that she'd been traced to a commune in Somerset and the papers picked up on the story once again. This time however the story broke in the alternative media with the news that conspiracy theory author, Tony Gosling, had been arrested in relation to the missing woman and her credit card.
Various conspiracy websites relating to 911 and the 7/7 bombing picked up the story as Tony Gosling published an audio interview he had made with Natalie in which she claimed she had knowledge that the 7/7 bombings were the work of Israeli secret services. The interview also weaved a complex tale of international espionage, defections and intrigue that would not be out of place in a Jame Bond movie script.
The story was also published on Indymedia Bristol and the UK site and the following comments revealed something of the chain of events that had led the police to the farm where Natalie was supposed to have been.
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/401952.html
Another few days of silence followed and it was unclear if Natalie was still on the run or had in fact been quietly apprehended. But today (1st July) the story is back in the media with statements alleged to be from Natalie's parents countering her whole zionist spy plot story as published on the web by Tony Gosling. Perhaps it's all just part of the conspiracy and the statement did not really come from Natalie's parents. Perhaps her dad really is a defector hiding from Mossad and MI5 in Libya but few would believe it.
Unless Natalie happens to find a bunch of anti-Semite conspiriloons, the latest developments will make it much harder for her to obtain further support and shelter as the crazy sounding claims she made in the interview will be interpreted by most people as proof of her mental illness.
With her story now out in the open and picked apart from all angles it is easy to wonder what possessed those who helped her but it is not clear that those helping her had actually heard the story she told Tony Gosling. It is likely that her claims were tailored for the audience and for Tony her black flag, 'the jews did it' spy story must have been a dream come true. The others who helped or continue to help her may not be interested in the story but rather with what they consider to be the best interest of the children.
It's impossible and futile to second guess the decision and motives of the Childrens Services in ordering the children to be taken into care. We can't know of any specific incidents which might have led to the care order being sought. We can't know whether the kids have been hurt or whether she was responsible for the alleged torching of her home in Germany. However those who claim to have spent time with her and her kids during the last month have all seemed impressed by her and her daughters and clearly horrified at the idea that they will be torn apart. It seems unlikely that social services will keep the five girls together if the police ever manage to catch Natalie and everyone has heard horror stories about the fate of children put into care.
Natalie may indeed be suffering from some kind of personality disorder - indeed a very high percentage of people do. However she has proved extremely capable of protecting her kids from the threat she perceives from the state, managing to remain one step ahead of the police for almost six weeks in the surveillance capital of the world. She may be crazy, but from where I'm sitting she's doing pretty good as a mother.
At the end of May the story developed to include the father of three of Natalies children who had no apparently come over to the UK to help police with their search. This was the same guy that Natalie had implied was involved in an arson attack on her Dusseldorf home two years earlier but no mention of this in the media and the one online news article which mentioned this vanished from the Sunderland Echo website.
It was clear there was more to the story than the police and papers were letting on. They had traced her to the Harlesden area of the capital and bumped the story back into the media on the 5th June with a poster campaign to appeal for information from the public. However they provided no further information about why she was being sought.
More information came out on the 11th June when police statements made the claim that Natalie had recently been psychologically assessed as having Histrionic Personality Disorder. Press coverage listed symptoms of the disorder as including a tendency to make rash decisions, excessive dramatics with exaggerated displays of emotion, seeking of reassurance or approval, excessive sensitivity to criticism or disapproval, rapidly shifting emotional states and the need to be the centre of attention.
It was obvious that this new information was designed to discredit Natalie and any explanation of her plight that she might have given to those helping her. Hoever, those who had been sheltering her did not recognise these symptoms in her and so the claim only helped to re-enforce the feeling that there was something dodgy going on.
Another week passed before the police revealed that the children were subject of a care order. It seems that the police would have liked too have revealed this obvious fact much sooner but had to obtain a court order in order to make the information public. Again, this new information would have had no impact on the people she was staying with as the claim that the authorities wanted to take her kids away was generally the only part of the story they'd heard and the reason she was given help.
The information that the mother had a mental illness and that the authorities planned to take her kids away ensured that the story stayed in the media for several more days but then there was another lull. It is clear that Natalie had by now already been moved from London to Somerset and it was only when somebody was arrested for the alleged theft of Natalie's credit card that the story progressed again.
On Monday 23th and Tuesday 24th, a chain reaction of arrests took place and properties were searched in London, Bristol and Yeovil. However, despite the tip off, the police had failed to find Natalie and her kids. Police issued yet another statement saying that she'd been traced to a commune in Somerset and the papers picked up on the story once again. This time however the story broke in the alternative media with the news that conspiracy theory author, Tony Gosling, had been arrested in relation to the missing woman and her credit card.
Various conspiracy websites relating to 911 and the 7/7 bombing picked up the story as Tony Gosling published an audio interview he had made with Natalie in which she claimed she had knowledge that the 7/7 bombings were the work of Israeli secret services. The interview also weaved a complex tale of international espionage, defections and intrigue that would not be out of place in a Jame Bond movie script.
The story was also published on Indymedia Bristol and the UK site and the following comments revealed something of the chain of events that had led the police to the farm where Natalie was supposed to have been.
https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/06/401952.html Another few days of silence followed and it was unclear if Natalie was still on the run or had in fact been quietly apprehended. But today (1st July) the story is back in the media with statements alleged to be from Natalie's parents countering her whole zionist spy plot story as published on the web by Tony Gosling. Perhaps it's all just part of the conspiracy and the statement did not really come from Natalie's parents. Perhaps her dad really is a defector hiding from Mossad and MI5 in Libya but few would believe it.
Unless Natalie happens to find a bunch of anti-Semite conspiriloons, the latest developments will make it much harder for her to obtain further support and shelter as the crazy sounding claims she made in the interview will be interpreted by most people as proof of her mental illness.
With her story now out in the open and picked apart from all angles it is easy to wonder what possessed those who helped her but it is not clear that those helping her had actually heard the story she told Tony Gosling. It is likely that her claims were tailored for the audience and for Tony her black flag, 'the jews did it' spy story must have been a dream come true. The others who helped or continue to help her may not be interested in the story but rather with what they consider to be the best interest of the children.
It's impossible and futile to second guess the decision and motives of the Childrens Services in ordering the children to be taken into care. We can't know of any specific incidents which might have led to the care order being sought. We can't know whether the kids have been hurt or whether she was responsible for the alleged torching of her home in Germany. However those who claim to have spent time with her and her kids during the last month have all seemed impressed by her and her daughters and clearly horrified at the idea that they will be torn apart. It seems unlikely that social services will keep the five girls together if the police ever manage to catch Natalie and everyone has heard horror stories about the fate of children put into care.
Natalie may indeed be suffering from some kind of personality disorder - indeed a very high percentage of people do. However she has proved extremely capable of protecting her kids from the threat she perceives from the state, managing to remain one step ahead of the police for almost six weeks in the surveillance capital of the world. She may be crazy, but from where I'm sitting she's doing pretty good as a mother.
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