Public Children Law

Jo’s care work in recent years has included representing:

• An intervenor facing allegations of poisoning a severely disabled child with salt in a four week trial. The intervenor was exonerated entirely.
• A mother in an infant fatality case in the High Court, including appearing at the subsequent hearings relating to media applications to report the names of the parents and the deceased child.
• A 16-year-old child who required an interpreter and intermediary in care proceedings where he faced allegations of sexual abuse made by a younger sibling. A narrative was agreed with the result that neither child had to give evidence and the court was able to make threshold findings without making any findings against the child.
• A local authority in care proceedings which involved a complex background of NAI, domestic and emotional abuse where the mother had prevented the father from contact and had made false allegations that he had inflicted injury to the child. Jo successfully sought findings of NAI against the mother and her partner and findings against the mother relating to the false allegations. After assessment, the child was placed with father.
• A grandparent against whom allegations of sexual abuse were made in care proceedings. Jo successfully challenged the investigation by identifying multiple breaches of the ABE guidelines and good practice. No findings were made.
• A local authority in care proceedings with legal and procedural complexities. Both the parents were deaf and the children were hearing-impaired, requiring BSL interpreters and deaf relays.
• A mother of an infant who had been injured where mother and former partner were in the pool of potential perpetrators. Cross examination of the partner elicited an admission that he had inflicted the injury. The child was rehabilitated to the mother.
• A teenage girl who was alleging sexual abuse by three family members – one deceased and two young men. Cultural issues were relevant to the findings sought and sensitive cross-examination was required. Findings were made.
• A father accused of sexual abuse and infecting his child with gonorrhoea. Complex medical evidence was required on incubation and transmission of the disease.
• A father of twin children where both had sustained multiple fractures at different times where the pool of potential perpetrators included both parents and professional staff employed to provide childcare. The parents and two of the professional staff were exonerated and findings of inflicted injury made against the third.