Introduction
1.In early 2020, AB was murdered by her husband, CD. With the assistance of two of his brothers, CD hid AB’s body so that its whereabouts were unknown until late 2020. At that time, AB’s body was discovered, buried in woodland. CD was found guilty of AB’s murder by a jury in early May 2022 and in June 2022, he was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years before he is eligible to be considered for parole.2.AB was the mother of two of the three children with whom I am concerned and the step-mother of the third. Those children are: P, a boy of 14 years; Q, a boy of 8 years; and R, a girl of 6 years. Q and R are the children of AB and CD and P is the child of CD and his first wife, GH. All three children are placed together in foster care under interim care orders made on 7 April 2020 following the arrest of CD. I shall refer to CD as “the father” and to AB as “the mother”.3.The applications before the court were as follows:a)the local authority sought care orders for each child on the basis of plans that they live in long-term foster care. The children have lived with their current foster carers since August 2021 and it is intended that these carers should be their long-term carers;b)the local authority sought permission pursuant to s.34(4) of the Children Act 1989 to refuse contact between the children and their father;c)the local authority sought the court’s leave to invoke the inherent jurisdiction pursuant to s.100(3) of the Children Act 1989 and, if granted leave, for the court to authorise and/or declare (i) that the local authority need not consult with the father on decisions about his children’s care and well-being; (ii) that the local authority should provide the father with limited information by way of twice yearly written reports on the children’s progress without disclosing details of the whereabouts of the children’s foster home or schools; and (iii) that it was lawful for the local authority to exercise its powers pursuant to s.33(4) of the Children Act 1989 to prevent the father exercising his parental responsibility so as to obtain information or make decisions about the children’s care;d)and the local authority sought an order pursuant to section 91(14) of the Children Act 1989 providing that any future application made by the father to either vary the orders made at this hearing or to seek other orders under the Children Act 1989 would require the permission of the court before any such application could proceed.4.The applicant local authority was represented by Mr O’Brien; the father by Mr Spollon; GH by Mr Cooper; and the children through the children’s Guardian by Miss Lakin. I am grateful to all the advocates for their assistance and, in particular, indebted to Mr Spollon and his instructing solicitors who worked hard to assist the father, having only been instructed on 6 October 2022. Each of the advocates said all they could have done in support of their respective cases.5.I read the court bundle prepared for this hearing together with the position statements prepared by each party and heard oral submissions. This case was very familiar to me as I had case managed it since allocation to me on 12 October 2020. Prior to the hearing, I met with P in the presence of one of his foster carers and his solicitor and, at the hearing, I permitted the father to address the court unsworn. At the conclusion of the hearing on 19 October 2022, I indicated that I would reserve judgment for a short time.