A Council v M & Ors (Judgment 1: Fact-Finding)

Ms Mary Lazarus for the Local Authority Ms Eleanor Platt QC and Ms Carol McMillan for the Mother (M) Ms Sally Bradley for the Father (F) Ms Tina Cook QC and Mr Anthony Jerman for the eldest child (A) Ms Maria Hancock for the second child (B) Mr Martin Downs for the Children's Guardian for B and the third child (C) Ms Anna McKenna / Ms Jessica Lee for the Children's Guardian for the fourth child (D) The names of solicitors are omitted in the interests of confidentiality Hearing dates: 20 February to 6 March 2012 ____________________

This judgment is the first in a series of four. It was handed down to the parties on 8 March 2012 but was not made public to protect the children concerned and because of the pending criminal trial. It is now handed down publicly in an anonymised form, together with the second and third judgments, so that the matter can be reported, but without identifying the family. The fourth judgment, which will deal with the question of the legal status of the child C, will be published in due course.

Reporting restriction orders were made on 21 February 2012, 17 May 2102 and 17 July 2012. The last of these remains in force and prevents publication of

(b) any picture being or including a picture of either the Children or the Parents;

(c) any other identifying details relating to the Children or the Parents, and in particular descriptions of them as being connected with any of the following geographical areas: [two towns]; [the county]; [the region of the country]; [foreign country X]; [foreign country Y].