R and E (Children), Re (Costs) (Rev 1)

The judgment is being distributed to the father and to the local authority on the strict understanding that the anonymity of the children, their sibling and the adult members of their family, including their foster carers and their adoptive parents, must be strictly preserved. All persons, including representatives of the media, must ensure this condition is complied with. Failure to do so will be a contempt of court.

In his e-mail of 17th June 2016, in which he claimed damages amounting to �60,000 for himself and the children, he also claimed �5,000 for costs; but this appeared to relate principally to his unsuccessful application for leave to oppose the making of adoption orders rather than to his damages claim. He expressed this claim for costs as follows:

In his later e-mail of 30th January 2017 he repeated his claim for �5,000 but in differ ent terms:

"My Claim for Costs/Expenses is for the amount of �5,000 and I would appreciate either an immediate partial or interim payment from the Local Authority to my �.. bank account �.

The claim proceeded to trial and the father failed to recover any damages. Accordingly the defendant would be entitled to costs in respect of the damages claim from the date upon which the period for acceptance expired. The defendant local authority seek costs from the rejection of the offer on 9th December 2016 until 27th January 2017 when the proceedings ended with the decision of the court.