I knew my daughter-in-law was evil, but nothing could've prepared me for the abuse my granddaughter suffered at her hands. I warned a social worker she'd kill her. Now TAMMY RISEN asks, why did no one listen?

Copyright dailymail

I was desperately worried about my son. Although Jamielee was 17, his intellectual delay meant he was more like a 12-year-old. And now he had a new girlfriend I was certain was taking advantage of him. Britney, also 17, was rude and demanding whenever she came to visit. Then she got wind of the $25,000 insurance payout Jamielee had recently received, and I knew we were in trouble. Within four months of dating, all his money was gone. Then Britney dumped him and my son was inconsolable. Two months later, she got back in touch claiming she was pregnant and the baby was Jamielee's. I wasn't sure she was telling the truth as the timings didn't seem to add up, but my son took her at her word. Later, Britney called Jamielee to tell him the baby had been stillborn. He was heartbroken - especially when she told him she didn't want him at the funeral. I couldn't shake the feeling something wasn't right. A quick look at Britney's Facebook page showed my instincts had been bang on: there were photos of Britney, a healthy newborn, and a man she was naming as the father. 'I'm so sorry, but she lied to you,' I told Jamielee, showing him the photo. 'How could she be so cruel?' he asked. With Britney's lies out in the open, I hoped she'd be out of our lives forever, but that wasn't the case. Somehow, Britney wormed her way back in with my son. One minute they were back together, the next they were getting married. Then Britney fell pregnant again, promising Jamielee the baby was his. They had a baby girl, Averylee, and I fell in love with her instantly. But just a week after giving birth, Britney showed up at the house, thrust Averylee into my arms and said: 'I want my life back. Can you take her?' It'd been years since I'd taken care of a newborn, but how could I refuse? For the next few weeks, my partner Jon and I relished the experience of looking after Averylee. But then Britney wanted her back and we had no choice but to hand her over. It was devastating. She'd been back with Britney for just a day when Jamielee rang me, frantic. 'Averylee's had an accident,' he said. When we arrived at the hospital, we were horrified to learn her skull was fractured along with bones in her arm and leg. Jamielee said he'd been asleep but woke to find Averylee screaming in the bath. He didn't know how the injuries had occurred. Police soon arrived and Britney told them she'd dropped Averylee. She was charged with child endangerment, which she admitted, and was sent to prison for six months. While she was behind bars, we took care of Averylee. For the first time in her life, she was safe and happy, always giggling and pulling funny faces. We wanted permanent custody, but Britney's social worker told us: 'Britney has the right to prove she's a good mum.' I couldn't believe it. She'd had that right, and she'd hurt her baby! When Britney was released from prison, she was allowed to see Averylee unsupervised. It filled me with fear - and I was right to be afraid. After visits with Britney, Averylee would be returned to me with bruises. I reported it to social workers but other than telling me to photograph the injuries, they didn't seem too bothered. Then, one day, I was making lunch with Averylee when she said: 'Mummy is bad.' 'Does she hurt you?' I asked. My heart broke as Averylee nodded. We kept fighting for custody but when Averylee was three, the family court made the decision to give Britney full-time custody. In the courtroom, I turned to the social worker and said: 'You've just killed my granddaughter.' We were still allowed limited visitation, but every time I saw Averylee, my fears grew. She was losing weight and her hair was falling out in clumps. Around that time, Jamielee and Britney divorced and I felt more powerless than ever. Then one day, my phone beeped with a message from a friend. It said: 'I'm so sorry to hear about Averylee.' My stomach dropped. What was she talking about? Shaking, I called her, telling her we had no idea what happened. 'She's in the hospital,' my friend said. 'She had an accident... I thought you knew.' I rushed to pick up Jamielee. Hurriedly, we started to get ready to leave for the hospital but before we could, Jamielee's phone rang. As he answered it, the colour drained from his face and he screamed: 'No, no, no!' In that moment, I knew. 'She's killed her, hasn't she?' I asked. We raced to the hospital and a nurse took us to see Averylee. She was lying lifeless on the bed. Her head was swollen and bruised, and her hair had been cut off in chunks. Averylee was dead. She was just four years old. We weren't even allowed to touch her because the police were still investigating. An autopsy revealed Averylee had been viciously beaten around the head. Britney was arrested and charged with murder. Eventually, Britney, by then 27, pleaded guilty. The court was told Averylee was found unresponsive in the bath. She had head injuries caused by blunt force trauma, and was taken to hospital where she died three days later - we hadn't even known about it until after she was gone. I thought back to when Averylee was a baby and she'd been found with a fractured skull. Britney had done it again - just like I had known she would. And this time, she'd killed her. Britney was sentenced to life imprisonment, to serve at least 20 years. When that social worker gave Britney custody, I told her she'd killed my granddaughter. I'm devastated I was right. As told to John Parrish