A Local Authority v M & Ors

Samuel Castlehouse (instructed by A Local Authority Legal Services ) for the Applicant

Charlie Barrass-Evans (instructed by Walters & Barbary Solicitors ) for the 3 rd & 4 th Respondents

              This is a fact finding hearing in conjoined public and private law proceedings involving two children. They each have the same mother but different fathers. The proceedings have been very long and drawn out for a variety of reasons, not least because this is a retrial following an appeal last year.

              The allegations relate to the oldest of the two children, a girl (A) who is now 9 but was only 6 at the time of the original allegations.� There are four adults who are relevant to the proceedings,� the mother, the father, the mother's partner (who I shall refer to as SF) and the father's partner (who I shall refer to as SM).

              There were a number of concerns about the mother's care of A. The records state that �she took A to school late, used a pram and a dummy when she was too old for such things, and exposed her to her own distress at the breakdown of the relationship.� Despite a lot of work with her the mother found it difficult to move on.� A was developmentally delayed.