The new allegations
32.In her witness statement M provides further detail of the abuse she says she suffered during her childhood. She alleges physical, emotional and sexual abuse perpetrated directly by MGM. She also alleges that MGM facilitated sexual abuse that was perpetrated by men invited to the family home. 33.The following information is available from the local authority and police records:a.In 2006 M made an allegation of physical abuse against MGM, which was investigated and found to be unsubstantiated.b.In 2007 M’s school raised concerns about M’s ‘inappropriate behaviour towards male staff and male children’ and noted that her drawings were sexualised. The school said that the relationship between MGM and the school was difficult and that M had failed to take up services in the past. A local authority case note around the same time includes a note, ‘initial thoughts are that [MGM] is abusing [M] and this abuse may include sexual abuse.’ A case note in 2008 suggests that videos watched by M’s older sister might provide an explanation for the sexualised drawings. c.In July 2010 the police were called to the family home when M had locked MGM out. On arrival M told the police that MGM had sexually abused her. When the police sought to explore this allegation M said that she had made it up because she was angry and MGM would not let her go out with her friends. d.In November 2011 M was taken to hospital after falling from a second floor window ledge. This led to a police referral and an assessment by the local authority. Neighbours of the family said that M was in the habit of sitting on the window sill. M told the police that she had been sitting on the sill despite being told not to, and had twisted and fallen. 34.In the 2017 proceedings M was asked about her childhood experiences by an adult psychiatrist who assessed her mental health and an independent social worker who carried out the parenting assessment. Both experts reported that M was very difficult to engage and that eliciting information from her was difficult. The independent social worker recorded that M ‘denied any significant events in her childhood, or periods of abuse.’ The experts were of course informed of the local authority’s involvement with M during her childhood and the reasons for this, although it is does not seem that they had access to the detailed records which would have revealed the fact that there had been concerns about sexual abuse. 35.M reported her allegations to the police on 9 December 2020. She participated in a video-recorded interview, a detailed summary of which is in the police records. It is not necessary to set out M’s allegations in full in this judgment. They include an allegation of direct sexual abuse against MGM, and an allegation that MGM facilitated sexual abuse of M perpetrated by unknown men who were invited to the home. M also alleged that MGM had perpetrated physical and emotional abuse towards her, and that her siblings had done the same. 36.MGM was interviewed with a solicitor and denied the allegations. M’s older sister gave a statement to the police in which she said that M’s allegations were false; she said that there was no abuse in the home and denied that any man had come to the home after her parents separated. M’s sister told the police that she believed that M had made the allegations up in order to achieve the outcome she wanted (T’s return to her care). 37.It is clear from the police records that the police were aware of the reports that M had presented at school with sexualised behaviour in 2007. It is also apparent that the police conducted a thorough review of relevant documentation, including the Family Law Act papers, M’s medical records and police and social services records. The strengths and weaknesses of the case are summarised in a document dated 1 June 2021 which sets out the reasoning behind the police decision to take no further action on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to support a conviction. 38.M’s allegations in December 2020 also triggered a s47 investigation by the local authority into T’s circumstances, and a subsequent Child and Family Assessment. The social worker who carried out the assessment spoke to the school and the family GP and undertook direct work with T himself. No concerns were expressed by any agency. The conclusion of the assessment was that T was ‘happy, healthy and thriving with [MGM]. T shared a close bond with his grandmother, and he did not look fearful or timid around her’. 39.In May 2021 M made a referral to the local authority saying that she was concerned about bruising to T which she said she had observed during contact. The local authority checked the contact records and spoke to T’s school. M’s allegations were not consistent with the observations of professionals, including the contact supervisors.40.There are undoubtedly issues with M’s credibility. I take into account the fact that victims of abuse, particularly childhood sexual abuse, often struggle to give a consistent account of what has happened to them because of the impact trauma has on memory. However M’s allegations of bruising to T are not supported by other evidence and there is a strong suggestion that these have, at the very least, been exaggerated. I note also that the account M gave to the police in 2021 of the disputes around contact in 2018 differs significantly from the account she gave at the time that these events occurred. 41.M first made her allegations in late 2020, a couple of months after she had requested a copy of her social work file in which the school’s observations of sexualised behaviour were recorded. The local authority is concerned that this discovery, in combination with the escalating tensions around T’s placement with MGM, led to M’s allegations. On other hand, it is not unusual in cases of sexual abuse for allegations to be made many years after the abuse took place. M has given what could be a plausible explanation for her failure to raise the allegations in 2017, namely that MGM told her that if she said anything about her experiences as a child the likely outcome for T would be adoption. 42.Both of M’s older siblings were interviewed as part of the special guardianship assessments that took place in 2017. Both gave what appears to be a full and detailed account of their childhoods and said that there was no abuse in the home. M’s sister gave the same account to the police in 2021. Neither of M’s siblings has experienced the difficulties that M has had. M’s older sister, who is now in her 30s, is a speech and language assistant in a school and might be expected therefore to have a reasonable awareness of safeguarding issues.43.It is obviously not possible to make findings as to the truth or otherwise of M’s allegations without hearing evidence. There is some evidence in the local authority records that suggests that M may have experienced trauma, including sexual harm, as a young child. This evidence is potentially supportive of her case. However there is also evidence upon which MGM will be able to rely which suggests that M’s account is unreliable and that the allegations are untrue.