Net closing in on fugitive family

At the weekend the police renewed their appeal for information with the publication of photos plus the names of the five girls which they had been previously been unable to publish. The high court recently made an unusual ruling allowing the police to ignore the childrens right to privacy and the appeal for information has ridden neatly on the back of public concern over the handling of the Baby P case.

As a result, the police claim that they have received many calls from the public reporting sightings of the family. Northumbria Police Detective Chief Inspector Ian Bentham who is leading the hunt said: "We have had more than twenty calls of interest following the release of new photographs of Natalie and the girls earlier this week. We are now going through the reports and are following up some interesting new leads."

The last reported sightings of the desperate family were at Exeter bus station where they bough tickets to Mortonhamstead. As a result of this sighting the police launch a dawn raid on a property in the area with at least twenty officers and a helicopter but failed to locate their prey. A couple of weeks earlier a similar operation had targeted what the press described as a commune near Yeovil. Again the police came up empty handed despite two visits, forty police offices, dogs and helicopters.

The failed Yeovil operation took place after cascade of police raids, searches and arrests in London and Bristol. Information provided by those arrested almost led the police straight to the fugitive family but the timely occurrence of the nearby glastonbury festival provided opportunities to slip the net and move on.

Natalie Bracht and her five children Indira, Naima, Elinour, Manjuh and Naomi (aged between five and thirteen) seem to have a remarkable ability to take flight at the right moment. After fleeing their home in Sunderland just hours before officials moved in to seize the children. They travelled to London in disguise to seek shelter and stayed for several happy weeks in a squat before apparently sensing that it was time to get out of the city.

The missing mum seems to be attracting an unusual amount on police resources and media attention and it is clear that the full story has not yet been revealed. The state continues to suggest that some kind of personality disorder exhibited by the mother means it is in best interest of the children to be taken into care. However, there are plenty of children bought up by parents with mental health problems who don't attract the attention in this way so that can't be all there is to the story.

Natalie own explanation seems to be tailored to the ear of the person listening and it's not clear whether she believes it herself. When speaking to Tony Gosling, a freelance journalist known for covering anti-Semite conspiracy theories, she told a inconceivable tale of international intrigue, spys and zionist plots. Such a tale would clearly make most people doubt her sanity and it seems unlikely that she would be using the same story to illicit the support of all who have helped up.

How much longer can Natalie and her five girls avoid capture as the big brother state turns to its subject to do the work that the police and CCTV nation have so far failed to do - only time will tell.