Summary
Sally Bradley, Counsel for the London Borough of Hackney. Case involved 4 children in 2 local authorities, 3 in Hackney, 1 in Haringey. The case concerned serious ritual abuse of one child and raised considerable public interest and concern.
Facts
For this reason the anonymised judgement was given in public. Ryder J condemned ritual practices that caused physical or emotional harm to children and approved the placement of the second child with his father and step mother as a permanent arrangement and would have done so earlier had it not been for the declared intention of the HO to remove the adults. While immigration decisions were not a matter for care proceedings, the basis for the HO decision did not sit easily with the basis for the placement decisions made in the care proceedings. Were the child, who had leave to remain, to be separated from his father he would experience yet more harm in traumatic circumstances, and would be unable to rely on his mother for any alternative care or support. Within the context of Part 8 of the CPR 1998 and HR proceedings the HS responded to the court’s concerns and granted the adults concerned exceptional leave to remain.