Murdered Lee Irving's teachers chillingly predicted that he could be at risk after he left school.
Reports by staff at Percy Hedley School told how concerns about Lee's impressionability were raised when he was aged just 12.
And by the time he was in his final year at the school, teachers said they had serious fears for his safety.
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Tragically these early warnings were not enough to save vulnerable Lee's life as just six years later he was murdered after being targeted and used by evil James Wheatley.
Lee's mum Bev has always believed opportunities to keep her son safe were missed because his vulnerabilities were not recognised by authorities and he was treated as an adult when he had the mental capacity of a child.
Now in a bid to help other families understand their loved one's vulnerabilities Bev is telling the story of Lee's life.
And today in the third instalment, the 49-year-old has shared Lee's final school reports as she tells how help fell away after he finished his education.
Bev said: "Once he left school his statement of special needs disappeared and they are definitely not recognised as the person they are.
"It's like they go all through school then leave and they're there left to fall off a cliff, no support, no nothing. Lee's headteacher told me this was her major worry about him leaving school, what will happen to him."
Lee grew up in the West Denton area of Newcastle with Bev and his three brothers, Joe, Charlie and Owen. He was identified as having severe speech and learning difficulties at an early age, and was eventually educated at the Percy Hedley School, which caters for children with additional needs.
Trusting Lee was befriended by Wheatley in 2014. He began spending time at the Kenton Bar home Wheatley shared with his mum Julie Mills, sometimes disappearing for long periods.
Bev said she would regularly report her son missing to the police and other agencies, but was repeatedly told that because Lee was an adult he was free to go where he pleased.
But the horrifying reality was that Lee was being abused and eventually killed by Wheatley, while his mum, girlfriend and their lodger were present.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how Lee was beaten and sedated with drugs, including morphine, to prevent him escaping his captors. After he died, his body was wheeled in a pushchair and dumped near to the A1 in Fawdon.
He had suffered a catalogue of injuries, likened to those seen in car crash casualties, including 27 rib fractures. Wheatley was found guilty of murder and jailed for life with a minimum of 23 years behind bars.
Mills was jailed for 10 years and Wheatley’s girlfriend Nicole Lawrence for seven, after both were found guilty of perverting the course of justice and causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.
Wheatley’s lodger Barry Imray was also found guilty of allowing Lee’s death and jailed for three years.
In 2017 Newcastle City Council published a serious case review, which highlighted failings and missed opportunities to save Lee.
The report, prepared by Newcastle Safeguarding Adults Board, revealed despite repeated pleas from family members little was done to help Lee after he was targeted by Wheatley. And Bev has always insisted, that in Lee's case, that the authorities did not fully understand what it meant to be a vulnerable adult.
Heartbreakingly Lee's teachers almost predicted the risks he would face when he became an adult.
In a school report written when Lee was 12, one teacher said: "He can be impressionable and easily influenced by those around him."
When he was 15 it was highlighted that despite being a popular, motivated and sociable pupil he was regularly getting into trouble because of "peer pressure".
When Lee reached the age of 16 it was decided he should stay at Percy Hedley until he was 18.
And during this time both Bev and the teachers became fearful for Lee's safety.
One report says: "Recently Lee's out of school behaviour has given cause for concern. Miss Irving and school staff remain very concerned about Lee's personal safety."
And during his final year at the school the difficulties Lee was likely to face in the adult world were laid bare.
His report said: "In unstructured settings, especially out of school, Lee is vulnerable.
"Although his levels of assertiveness have improved in recent years he is still very easily led by peers. This is due to his lack of social understanding and his difficulties with considering consequences of his actions and considering other people's motivations."
Tragically though, while teachers were voicing their fears for the future, Lee was making plans.
In a section of a report where he was asked to write about his hopes for the future he was he wanted to get fit and maybe work in a gym.
He also said he hoped to: "Live independently someday, but not yet"
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