THE DISTRAUGHT grandparents of a 15-year-old Liphook boy who was killed in a car crash have blamed Hampshire County Council's Social Services for his death. Jackie and Frank Jones claim that the county council failed in its duty of care to teenager Callum Forbes. They are angry that he was allowed to roam the streets all day while in the care of social services, and was not forced to attend school. The couple say they were never consulted about their grandson despite the fact he spent many months with them when he was in Liphook. And they are furious that he was not properly assessed by experts and was forced to attend meetings about his future where he was ignored and "treated like a dog." Callum and another teenage passenger died on March 16 at 3pm when he car they were travelling in crashed into a tree at Fleet. The family buried Callum at St Mary's Church in Bramshott on March 24, just a stone's throw from his grandparent's home where he spent many happy holidays. Now they are looking for answers. He was "a lovely chap who had a series of terrible disappointments" in his short life which turned him from a highly intelligent, caring boy into an out-of- control tearaway, they claimed. They want to know why numerous social workers and case officers at Hampshire County Council did not appear to communicate with each other over his case. They want to know why their repeated requests to move Callum to a residential home where he could study for GCSEs were never answered. And most of all they want to know why social workers allowed him to miss school and roam the streets which ultimately led to his death. "There has been no accountability, no duty of care," said Mr Jones, "and Callum has been let down by the system." And now Mr and Mrs Jones are determined to force changes at Hampshire County Council: "It will be a memorial to Callum if we can get social services to alter their practices so that this never happens again," Mr Jones added. They believe their grandson's problems began just over six years ago when his mother left his father in Scotland and came to live in Bramshott with her new boyfriend. He attended Liphook Junior School and later went to Bohunt. But he was permanently excluded from school in June 2004, and with no alternative education offered to him, Mrs Jones said he was left to walk the streets. Two months later he was in court, prosecuted for destroying property in Liphook. By now he was taking drugs and being pushed from foster home to foster home as he became more and more uncontrollable. He spent Christmas 2005 with Frank and Jackie at their Bramshott home. It was the last time they saw him. Callum became violent and spent Boxing Day in police custody. On December 27 he was in court and later he was sent to The Mead children's home at Odiham, near Fleet. In August he was back in court and afterwards sent to a Young Offenders Institution in Milton Keynes. It was here said Mrs Jones that Callum began to turn the corner. "He did very well and was recommended to take exams in spite of the fact he had not been to school for two years," Mrs Jones told The Herald. Indeed in a progress report from the institution a member of the specialist staff commented: "Callum is a real star in the classroom, he scores very high points every week. He is a pleasant quiet student who engages well and co-operates fully. " His grandparents immediately contacted social services and begged them not to send him back to The Mead. "We kept asking them to find him a residential boarding school where he would be distanced from drugs and where he would receive an education," Mrs Jones added. But all their pleas fell on deaf ears according to his grandparents. "They resulted in ludicrous correspondence where no answers were given to our questions and all we were told was that he was going back to the Mead – I believe he would be alive today if he had been in a residential setting," said his very upset and angry grandfather. Just 14 months before Callum's death Mrs Jones had written to the Director of Social Services at Winchester and to her MP James Arbuthnot. She told them: "What I find to be the most reprehensible is the dismissal by social workers of the family's warnings and advice, so much trouble could have been avoided. "I do hope that Callum can be given the opportunity to learn to live in society and to learn to control his action before it is too late." The day before their grandson's funeral Callum's father Rab Forbes, accompanied by Mr and Mrs Jones met representatives from Hampshire Social Services. "Rab asked for a full account of the history which led to Callum's death," said Mr Jones. "We all want answers to questions from the highest level and we and Rab are waiting for these now and trying to gather ourselves together – at the moment we are angry and distressed."