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A failing care home for vulnerable girls owned by reality TV personality Ampika Pickston and funded by billionaire West Ham United owner David Sullivan has been permanently shut by Ofsted to prevent more child residents coming to harm, following an 18-month Byline Times investigation.
The Real Housewives of Cheshire star and OnlyFans model, 43, opened AP Care Homes Ltd sole facility, Moss Farm, in July 2023. She had bought the ‘luxury’ property with a £1.2 million loan from her 76-year-old porn baron fiance Mr Sullivan, who with a £1.12 billion fortune is the UK’s 143rd richest person.
But as this newspaper has previously reported, the home was shuttered twice in its first seven months by regulator Ofsted, whose inspectors uncovered a catalogue of serious safeguarding incidents, including one child who had not eaten for 48 hours, another who was hospitalised, and a third who had to be moved to a hotel after being bullied.
Rejecting an appeal by AP Care Homes against its latest closure by Ofsted, a Care Standards Tribunal found Pickston had threatened to stab one manager if she spoke out about the company, and that she had taken a girl to her own home without informing her social worker.
Judge Siobhan Goodrich noted in her judgement “serious and continuing regulatory failures”, found large parts of Ms Pickston’s witness evidence lacked credibility, and stated “little or no confidence” that she would ever be capable of safely carrying a children’s care home.
The Porn Baron Football Boss, his Glamour Model Fiancée and a War With Ofsted Over their ‘Failing’ Children’s Home
When a care home for vulnerable children funded by billionaire West Ham United Chairman David Sullivan, and run by his OnlyFans model reality TV star partner Ampika Pickston, had its registration suspended over safeguarding issues, it led to a strange chain of events and legal threats to this newspaper
Despite Judge Goodrich saying Pickston’s desire to “provide a home where children with emotional and/or behaviour difficulties [could be] well looked after, and be happy and safe” was “laudable”, she wrote: “The risk of harm to the health, well-being and safety of children who may come to live at the home is significant and has been amply demonstrated by…the experiences of many of the children who have lived there.
“We are satisfied that cancellation of registration is necessary, justified and proportionate to the risks to the health, safety and well-being of children who might otherwise live there.”
The judgment said a cancellation notice meant Pickston and anyone else who had a financial interest in the company would not be permitted to be involved in running a care home, or to foster or child-mind children, without Ofsted’s permission.
Sullivan was not among the parties involved in proceedings, meaning he was not represented in court. There is no suggestion he had any involvement with the firm beyond the provision of financing.
The week-long hearing, which took place at Warrington Magistrates in March, heard eight managers had quit in just 13 months, raising concerns over their lack of autonomy, as well as Pickston’s ability to run the home within the law while keeping children safe.
Celebrity-Run Children’s Home ‘Twice Misled’ Ofsted Over Serious Safeguarding Incident Which Saw it Shut Down
Ampika Pickston’s AP Care Homes Ltd has been barred for caring for children since late January and is now subject to a Care Standards Tribunal
Judge Goodrich said: ”We do not consider that Ms Pickston will be able to restrain herself from interfering with the exercise of professional judgement that needs to be undertaken by experienced and skilled leaders and managers.”
One former manager, whistleblower Natalie Williams, who like all staff had been made to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) preventing them from speaking publicly about AP Care Homes Ltd or Pickston, alleged Pickston threatened to stab her in the eye with a fork if she disclosed to Ofsted or the media any wrongdoings of the company.
While Judge Goodrich said she did not believe Pickston “was serious or would have acted” on her threat, she accepted Ms Williams’ account, which Pickston had denied, saying Williams held a “grudge” against her.
Judge Goodrich also noted that Pickston’s reason for having taken a girl back to her own home – that she had been looking for her missing dog – suggested Pickston had a “very poor understanding of professional boundaries”.
AP Care Homes Ltd’s website had been taken down and its Instagram page, which had continued to post throughout the home’s 17-month suspension, in the days after the 12 May judgement.
Pickston – who has a history of posting semi-nude photos of herself on social media – took to her own personal Instagram account last week, wearing only underwear, and posing seductively, to hint at the closure, and suggested she would be doing an interview about it with The Sun.
She wrote to her 246,000 followers on Friday, 23 May: “Happy bank holiday weekend…mother f**kers (sic). I am totally broken inside and will be sharing my truth with @TheSun next weekend. Pictures don’t reveal what is going on inside anyone’s mindset. Keep the faith that good things happen to good people.”
The judgement also criticised Pickston for her ongoing “combative” approach to Ofsted – an organisation she claimed had targeted her unfairly because she was a public figure – and this was cited as a reason for the cancellation.
The Tribunal heard Pickston had started High Court action against the three individual Ofsted inspectors who had recommended the home’s closure, which the Tribunal said could impact the watchdog’s ability in future to keep children safe.
Judge Goodrich said: “We consider that the end goal was to seek the removal of [the inspectors] from…monitoring the home. Such an approach may have a chilling effect on statutory regulation, the purpose of which is to safeguard children.”
She added: “We have little or no confidence that Ms Pickston has really changed her attitude to Ofsted, or that she would be able to effect or sustain any change in attitude in future.”
When AP Care Homes, Pickston and Sullivan were approached for comment, their lawyer David Beard pointed to parts of the judgement which said it was “to Ms Pickston’s credit that she continued to pay her staff in order to be in a position to re-open”, that the property was “spacious, well decorated and well-kept”, and that it was “clear that Ms Pickston has invested very considerable funds, time and effort in the Home”.
Mr Beard said: “AP Care Homes Limited and Amipka Pickston are extremely disappointed with the Tribunal decision and are in the process of appealing the decision.
“The provision of the care home was not financially motivated – both of which are completely contrary to substantial previous press reporting relating to AP Care Homes Limited and Amipka Pickston.”
An Ofsted spokesperson said: “We cancelled Moss Farm Children’s Home’s registration in March 2024… because we had reasonable cause to believe that children may have been at risk of harm. We are pleased the Tribunal has upheld our decision.”