Case No. NE24C50736 - [2025] EWHC 1767 (Fam)

Ms A conceded that she should have been more pro-active in making contact with the Father. She also made concessions about a lack of emphasis in her care plans on re-building the children’s relationship with the Father and on cultural and religious factors. Having sought a placement order for S she and the Local Authority swiftly applied to withdraw that application after not unexpected evidence from Ms E that it would be difficult to find a match for the adoption of S. There were some flaws in her approach but I was struck by her openness to criticism and her ready flexibility. Overall she had a good understanding of the Mother and children and her sibling and parenting assessments were well set out and persuasive.

Her conclusion that the children should be placed separately is striking. Ordinarily it would be desirable to place siblings together where at all possible. However, her assessment is consistent with Dr Swart’s evidence and with the experiences of foster carers and others who have had care of the children since October 2024. The relationship between P and Q is violent and dysfunctional. R and S had to be separated too because of difficulties in their relationship causing the carer to give up the care of R. There appears to be a closer bond between Q and R and the possibility of their being placed together in the future will be considered.

Ms A confirmed some very troubling and upsetting conduct by the elder children in recent months. Even at the weekend during the hearing P punched a carer for no apparent reason. There have been frequent assaults on staff and damage to property. Neither P nor Q are willing to attend school at present.

Ms E’s evidence concerned the mechanics following a placement order but that is no longer sought by the Local Authority. In short, she accepted that once factors such as a cultural match, or willingness to support S’s culture and faith, post adoption sibling contact, and his developmental issues were taken into account, it might take 9 to 12 months to find a match.

Ms C and Ms D gave evidence about the incident at Home X when P reported that he had been hit by the Mother with a pan. They were entirely credible witnesses. It was not put to them that P had not reported what they had recalled. The question for me is whether he was telling the truth. As Mr O’Sullivan pointed out there was no ABE interview nor any other evidence directly from P other than what Ms C and Ms D recalled him saying to them on the day in question