 Capper , described as " a gentle and easily influenced girl , " had been babysitting for Jean Powell since she was ten years old . In 1990 she had spent time in the care of the local authority after her mother , Elizabeth Capper , and her stepfather separated , after which Suzanne and her older sister Michelle stayed with their stepfather . Around this time Capper began to truant from Moston Brook High School , and her attendance during the final two years of schooling was described as " erratic . " Capper increasingly spent her time at Powell 's house . Powell lived at 97 Langworthy Road , Moston , a small Victorian terraced house , where she also dealt drugs and was involved with the handling of stolen motor vehicles . Michelle Capper had briefly lived with Powell , but moved out in August 1992 because she did not like the " evil new friends " Powell was associating with , particularly Bernadette McNeilly , who had recently moved in three doors away at number 91 . McNeilly , who had three children , subsequently moved in with Powell and her three children , where the two shared a bed in the downstairs dining room because the bedrooms were " full of children . " Capper continued to stay regularly even though Powell and McNeilly frequently bullied her . Her sister said : " It was not that she was scared of them , it 's just that she would do anything for them . She pampered their every whim . " 
