Deansleigh Road, Bournemouth, BH7 7DS |
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B e f o r e :
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BOURNEMOUTH, CHRISTCHURCH & POOLE COUNCIL |
Applicant |
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O |
1st Respondent |
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M |
2nd Respondent |
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R (by her Children's Guardian) |
3rd Respondent |
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Leslie Samuels KC and Omar Malik (instructed by Aldridge Brownlee Solicitors) for the 1st Respondent
Kate Branigan KC and Steven Howard (instructed by Preston Redman Solicitors) for the 2nd Respondent
Gemma Chapman (instructed by Battens Solicitors) for the 3rd Respondent
Hearing dates: 26th – 30th June 2023, 3rd -7th July 2023
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Crown Copyright ©
Mrs Justice Judd :
Introduction
Background
The local authority case
The response of the parents
The hearing
The medical evidence
The evidence of the parents
I also heard from a paediatric nurse who visited the mother and children on 11th May 2021 and from the social worker who carried out the initial assessment of the parents. The evidence from each of these witnesses was entirely positive about the parents and their care of both of the children.
The law
"To these matters, I would only add that in cases where repeated accounts are given of events surrounding injury and death, the court must think carefully about the significance or otherwise of any reported discrepancies. They may arise for a number of reasons. One possibility is of course that they are lies designed to hide culpability. Another is that they are lies told for other reasons. Further possibilities include faulty recollection or confusion at times of stress or when the importance of accuracy is not fully appreciated, or there may be inaccuracy or mistake in the record-keeping or recollection of the person hearing and relaying the account. The possible effects of delay and repeated questioning upon memory should also be considered, as should the effect on one person of hearing accounts given by others. As memory fades, a desire to iron out wrinkles may not be unnatural – a process that might inelegantly be described as "story-creep" may occur without any necessary inference of bad faith".
Discussion
T's position on the bed on 17th May
The rib fractures
Perpetration
Findings
Threshold