7.  The applicant, born in 1972, is detained in Rampton Hospital. 8.  In July 1973 the applicant and her three siblings were admitted to foster care by the local authority, following reports that their mother was unable to care for them and of squalid living conditions. 9.  In May 1976 the applicant and her sister were placed with Mr and Mrs D. Over the following thirteen years the local authority noted various concerns about the placement. In 1980 matters had deteriorated to the extent that the girls were almost removed. A 1981 memorandum stated that they showed many signs of emotional disturbance. In 1984 and 1985 Mr and Mrs D. resisted a number of attempts by social workers to see the girls alone. 10.  In 1989 the girls made allegations of physical and sexual abuse although no prosecution was brought. In June 1989 both made suicide attempts. In August 1989, the applicant finally left Mr and Mrs D. She was subsequently convicted of various offences, including assault and arson. She was admitted to psychiatric hospitals on a number of occasions and since 1993 has been detained in Rampton Hospital, with a diagnosis of mental illness and psychopathic disorder. 11.  In 1995 the applicant issued proceedings in negligence against the local authority. A psychiatric report was prepared in which the applicant’s account of the horrific abuse she had endured was set out. It included details of how she and her sister had been deprived of food, severely beaten, locked in their room, denied access to the toilet and treated as slaves. The report concluded that the applicant’s traumatic upbringing had significantly contributed to her mental disorder, the symptoms of which included self-mutilation, mood disorder and anti-social behaviour. The applicant had not been aware of any sexual abuse, but her sister later made a statement, in support of a claim by the applicant for criminal injuries compensation, in which she detailed physical and sexual abuse. 12.  In 1996 the High Court struck out the negligence claim as disclosing no reasonable cause of action, on the basis that there was no duty of care owed by a local authority to children in its care in English law at the time. In 1999 the applicant was awarded 50,000 pounds sterling (GBP) by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, in respect of the abuse by her foster-parents and for a separate claim relating to an assault.