PENHILL family the Mapstones were featured on primetime TV, as 999 What’s Your Emergency turned its attention to how parents’ behaviour affected their children.

Two generations of the Mapstone family featured on the Channel 4 show.

Steven Mapstone, who won the volunteer of the year title at the Swindon StreetGames awards in 2015, defended dad Lee. Earlier this year, 37-year-old Lee had charges of kidnap, robbery and knife possession dropped. He went on the run last September, posting images mocking the police to Facebook.

“People make him out to be some bad person, but he really isn’t,” said son Steven.

“He always said he regrets everything he’s done and he’s always says he regrets not being able to be the dad he wanted to be. He’s always done good by us when he was there.”

But the lad admitted there were major family occasions his dad missed, including five Christmases and 18th birthdays.

The programme explored the impact on children of growing up in troubled families.

PC Joe Tompkinson, who is shown in the documentary arresting Steven Mapstone for a public order offence after he swears at police officers, said: “As dreadful as it sounds, there are some children I look at and think you don’t have a hope in hell.”

Wiltshire Police early intervention lead PC Rachel Barnett told producers: “These children are victims. They don’t see themselves as vulnerable, but they are. If we don’t intervene with these children at the most important time in their lives, the cycle will never be broken.”