The children’s commissioner has visited a teenager who is on round-the-clock suicide watch after suffering years of abuse at the hands of grooming gangs.

Anne Longfield, whose role is to protect children’s rights in England, called on Laura*, 16, to see for herself the conditions in which she is being held at a psychiatric unit after being alerted by the girl’s mother.

Longfield sat on Laura’s bed for more than half an hour, listening to her complaints and promising to help her.

She later asked hospital staff to honour their agreement to allow Laura to spend two hours on a communal ward on Christmas Day.

Laura, who has tried to kill herself three times in the past year, was told she could leave her room if she was “incident-free” in the lead-up to the big day.

Laura’s mother, Susan,* said she had contacted Longfield as a last resortover allegations that her daughter had been the victim of a catalogue of failures at the hands of social workers, medical authorities and police.

Laura, who became the youngest child to be placed in secure accommodation in England nearly four years ago, is said to have been sexually abused since she was 12 while under the protection of children’s social care in Sheffield.

Both her mother and charity workers say the abuse, and the authorities’ failure to deal with it, have sent her into a downward spiral of mental illness. They hope Longfield’s intervention will help secure the three or four-on-one treatment they feel could save her.

Susan, meanwhile, lives in dread of someone knocking on her door to say Laura has been found dead.

Kathryn Kelwick, who works for a charity that dealt with victims of the Rotherham child abuse scandal, says Laura was “horrendously exploited” during two separate spells at a children’s home in Sheffield.

Evidence gathered by Kelwick and Laura’s family h suggests Laura was able to come and go as she pleased while living at the home, despite often showing signs of having been abused when she returned. Those exploiting her allegedly sent taxis to the home to collect her.

In Laura’s first spell at the home, Kelwick says it took months for authorities “to sit up and take notice”, and by the time they did the then 14-year-old had been sexually exploited by more than 40 adults.

The family say social services turned a blind eye to the abuse, and that South Yorkshire police failed to take any meaningful action to pursue the perpetrators.

Laura became so ill she had to be detained at the hospital a year ago. In her submission to the commissioner, Kelwick says the girl has been treated “worse than an animal”.

“She attempted suicide by taking an overdose twice in four days and she still wasn’t monitored. Currently she is being kept in segregation to keep her safe,” she said.

“She has been held in a room for five weeks with only a mat to sleep on and a toilet. She is being guarded by three to four males from agencies that do not interact with her”.

Susan said: “I’m thrilled that the commissioner has taken the trouble to come and see Laura so close to Christmas. She sat on the bed with her and gave her a big hug before she left. She actually held her face in her hands and said ‘I’m sorry for all you’ve had to go through, but I’m investigating now’.”

Longfield confirmed she had spoken to all the relevant agencies and to Laura herself. “I have asked for some immediate changes and improvements as well as wider reassurance,” she said.

Sheffield city council and the hospital have declined to discuss Laura’s case.

* Names have been changed

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.