01 Sep

Liz McGrath receives commendation in difficult care case, (June edition of Family Law).

Summary of the facts

A small child was taken to hospital by her parents and found to have sustained a number of injuries including fractures to the skull. The treating clinicians suspected that the injuries were non-accidental, albeit unusual. The father claimed that he had accidentally dropped the child. The Local Authority issued care proceedings and the child was placed with grandparents.  Assessments of the parents proved positive and at the hearing the Judge was not satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the injuries were non-accidental. She found that it was more likely that there had been an accident the full circumstances of which remained unclear.

Mrs Justice Hogg made a number of positive comments about the manner in which the case had been presented to her. She said she had had the advantage of experienced counsel, solicitors and guardian.  Counsel had been committed to the timetable and had remained focused on the issues in the case. The Judge commented that “the use of experienced advocates in complex care proceedings is essential” and considered the case a “prime example of the high quality legal representation to which all parties were entitled”.

In the June edition of Family Law the commentary describes the case as having been reported as “a model of how care proceedings should be managed” and a good news story for those tasked with presenting complex and difficult cases in the family courts.

RE J (Care proceedings: injuries) [2009] 2 FLR 99 FD