In the matter of Simon (Care order)

On 17 th July, 2015, the Court granted the Minister a final care order in respect of Simon ("the child"), (this is not his real name), and approved the Minister's care plan for adoption. The orders made were with the consent of the mother and the guardian and without the opposition of the father. However, the path to the making of an order had not been straightforward.

The mother has learning difficulties and was assisted throughout by Mrs Clare Le Gallais, of the Self Advocacy Project, who had provided a report for the assistance of the Court in the spirit of "the advocacy toolkit". She filed her evidence by way of a statement and the other parties had constructively agreed not to cross examine her.

The mother and father married on 28 th July, 2012, when the mother was pregnant with the child, but they had been living together for some years before that. They have an older child who was born on 26 th February, 1998, and who went to live with the fourth respondent, her maternal grandmother ("the maternal grandmother") following concerns about her suffering physical harm in the hands of the mother. The maternal grandmother was granted a residence order in respect of the older child in December 2004.

The child was placed on the Child Protection Register under the category of "neglect" prior to his birth but he was removed from the register on 31 st October, 2012, as the parents were considered by the Children's Service to be engaging well and the case was closed on 17 th May, 2013. Advocate Le Cocq, for the mother, was very critical of this decision because she argued that the continued involvement of the Children's Service at that stage might well have led to a different outcome.

The Children's Service became involved again on 15 th April, 2014, when a referral was received from the health visitor, Mrs Jenny Querns, who had the following concerns:-