“The injuries … were not very serious. They were relatively minor.”
“This placement order is made as a result of injuries to [the girl] which were very much on the lower end of the scale, to the extent that they did not even require any medical treatment, and it is submitted that a placement order is a disproportionate response to such injuries.”
“The parents adamantly deny that any sexualised behaviour has been observed or learned by the children at their home … Their case is that the foster carer is lying about what [the girl] has said or done and has made up the allegations and made up the log [viz: a kind of diary] as part of the conspiracy against the family perpetrated by the local authority and others to remove the children …”
“… This mother has been wholly unable, or unwilling, to make any kind of an admission to give any insight into where she might need help so that work can be done with her. It is almost as if psychologically she cannot bear to acknowledge any kind of weakness in the armoury of her view of herself as the good, caring parent. … Instead, she has … embarked on a strategy and a course of conduct which denies any responsibility for anything and blames everyone else except the family adults for the situation in which the family now find themselves.”
“I find that the mother is quite simply deluded. There is no rational or fact based explanation for her views, there is no other explanation for them, other than delusions. She is thus an inadequate parent, even a dangerous parent to have care of these two small children as things stand.”
“Into her delusions, the mother has drawn the father and the grandmother. They both stand behind her now 100 per cent, the grandmother in particular. The grandmother, when asked difficult questions, she would simply retreat into silence in evidence, saying, ‘I cannot answer. I do not know. I won’t answer. I cannot remember if there was anything I disagreed with in the mother’s evidence.’”
“I have no doubt that the grandmother loves her family, but I have no confidence that she would be able to maintain independence from the mother if the children were placed with her. Firstly, this is quite the opposite of what she said in answer to a question on day 6 of the trial, being 4th December, when she was asked why the children should live with her. It was put to her that the plan was ‘If you looked after the children, it would be until the mother was cleared, wouldn’t it?’ The grandmother said, ‘We planned that if I take the children, [the mother] would live with me. She has a permanent place, but she could leave it. That would continue until I die. Then they can have my home. That’s the plan. We are going to appeal. We will do it straight after this trial.’”
“In all the circumstances, I am not persuaded that placing the children with [the grandmother] is the right course. In fact, I conclude that it would be the wrong course. I reject it.”
“Firstly, grandmother’s case rests on the lack of investigation by the court into her capabilities to care for the children and (if necessary) resist the will of her daughter when subject to an order of the court. Following on from this, the issue of proportionality arises when balancing the finality of adoption against the return of a child to a family member. Secondly, the court’s approach when looking at grandmother as a carer is not in accordance with [certain authorities] … The judge concluded that Miss Campbell’s report fell far short of the mark, thus the court should have looked further into grandmother’s claim knowing how high the stakes were for all concerned. Some positives came from Miss Campbell’s report and should have given the court hope of finding further strengths.”
“The parties confirming that the assessments and experts identified and instructed are all those necessary to conclude this matter.”
“Into her delusions, the mother has drawn the father and the grandmother. They both stand behind her now 100 percent …”
“As for the father, [his counsel] has done his absolute level best to persuade me that there is a glimmer of true acceptance in the father’s position about the mother and the conspiracy theory to merit the further risk assessment which he contends for. But, I reject his submission. As [counsel] for the local authority has said, the whole focus of the case for the mother and the grandmother, and the father, has been a determination to overturn the fact finding and criminal court decisions. The father is complicit in this. He says he will separate from the mother, but he has taken no step to achieve this end and find himself alternative accommodation. The parents’ attitude in court, talking together, the mother picking fluff from his jacket, coming and going to the hearings together, demonstrate how close they in fact are. The mother has made those appointments with [the social worker] but were not kept. He has procrastinated about meeting [a doctor who was instructed]. He is avoiding discussions. He has flip-flopped on the surface.”
“38. Thirdly, [the local authority’s] plan for placing the children either together or separately was not explored. 39. Fourthly, the children’s needs were not fully explored as the court did not look at post-adoption sibling contact between the children if they were to be placed separately [I read that paragraph as expanded by Mrs. Haines during her oral submissions this afternoon]. 40. Fifthly, it is now unlikely that [the daughter] would be successfully adopted by a new family, bearing in mind her age, and the issues arising from the allegation of explicit sexual language.”
“Adoption would offer the children an opportunity to grow up with a family who can provide stability and consistency; an adoptive family can also give the children a positive message about being chosen, wanted, and valued.”
“These children are born to white European parents. They are attractive. They are born to parents of normal intelligence and do not suffer any physical or learning disability as far as one can tell. They are also a sibling group. Apart from the fact that [the daughter] is at the top end of the 0 to 5 age group of children who are usually regarded as the easiest to place, family finding should be relatively straightforward. [The daughter] may, of course, need a bit of additional support during the period of transition. The statement of the family finder raises no problems and suggests that placement is achievable in a matter of months from today.”
“The local authority plan is to determinate contact, at the latest, when an alternative family is identified. I agree. In the meantime, the contact will reduce.”