Case Study
The team at Wollens were able to help a mother who had been accused of causing injuries to her child. Eventually the case revealed that the child suffered with a metabolic bone disease & it was proven that the child’s mother was not to blame.
Amelia Smith is a paralegal in the Family Team here at Wollens and was involved in helping the family concerned.
Note: the names in this case study have been changed to protect the family.
Clare and her partner had two children together, a son aged 8 years and a daughter aged 5 months. Both children had been born very prematurely and had medical issues as a result. In September 2021, her daughter developed a severe cough and was not taking feeds. Clare took her daughter to hospital and she was diagnosed with an upper respiratory tract infection. In October 2021, Clare’s daughter had a choking episode. Clare took her daughter to the hospital again and the doctor’s sent her for an X-ray. To Clare’s disbelief, her daughter was found to have two rib fractures.
Child Protection protocols were initiated as Clare was not able to provide an explanation for the fractures. The police arrived at the hospital, along with social services. They informed Clare that the doctors were concerned that the injuries were inflicted. Care proceedings were instigated and Clare was also placed under criminal investigation.
Both children were removed from their parents care immediately. They were placed in the care of their grandparents who had been assessed by social services as appropriate to care. Clare was able to see her children, but only if she was supervised by either social services or a member of her family, as a safety precaution for the children. She saw the children three times per week.
Clare did some research and came across the Parents Accused website and instructed us to represent her within the care proceedings.
During the court process we ensured that Clare had a barrister who had experience in this kind of work. We made sure Clare got the right expertise by applying for and appointing certain independent medical experts to look into what had happened to her daughter. The reason why experts are appointed is to clarify what injuries are present, what may have caused them and to see whether the child is suffering from any disease and/or disorder that may have contributed to their injuries. This may not be just broken bones, but perhaps a blood clotting disorder or being more susceptible to bruising. This is not found in every case, but it is very important for it to be considered.
An expert that we instructed for Clare found that her daughter did in fact suffer with a metabolic bone disease. This means her bones are weaker due to abnormalities of minerals such as calcium and vitamin D and therefore meant she was more susceptible to breaking bones. Due to this finding, social services retracted their application to the Court and proceedings came to an end. It was proven that Clare did not harm her daughter. Whilst Clare was upset that her daughter was diagnosed with a disease, she was relieved to be cleared of the accusation of harming her daughter. Her children have both now been returned to her full-time care.
This is a brief summary of a real-life case that we have recently dealt with and were very pleased that we were able to help Clare. If you have found yourself being accused of harming your child, please do get in contact with us to see how we can assist.
Contact Amelia [email protected]
Or our family team :
Call us :
South Devon 01803 213521
Exeter 01392 274006
North Devon 01271 342268
