NAI - Interim Care order

[User123]

Hi to whoever will be reading this, hope you are doing well.
Unfortunately & unluckily we have got involved in care proceedings. I have 1 beautiful 11 months old daughter who sadly had an accidental fall on to the kitchen's hard floor from our kitchen's widow sill. At the time, myself, my husband and my daughter were present in the kitchen. We quickly rang 999 and awaited for the crew to come through. My daughter was taken to the A&E department where an initial CT scan was performed and the doctors said that she will be fine as it is a small bleed in her brain. We stayed in the hospital for 12 days where several tests were performed on my daughter including XRAYS, MRI, & numerous Blood tests. It was after the MRI scan results that the doctors said that they were worried as they think this looks like a shaken baby syndrome. They found multiple bleeds in the brain and bleed behind the eyes. However the XRAYS came back clear and there was no marks or anything on my baby body. This was the time when the SS got involved and started care proceedings. My daughter is currently on ICO and is at foster care. We have had a couple of initial court hearings and the court has ordered 3 different expert opinions which will be due in the coming months. The court has ordered Fact Finding Hearing in a couple of months. Myself and my husband both have our lawyers who look very professional and experienced in such cases.
There has never been an issue of DV/DA or any such thing within our family. We dont do drugs, smoke or drink. We are a very simple and normal family who just unluckily got into this mess.
We are currently undergoing the parenting assessment with the social worker and have contact with our daughter every 4 days a week. The contact has been going extremely positive as our daughter loves to see us and the supervisors are always happy that we loves our daughter so much.
Though it is heart-breaking and a nightmare that we are going through this, we understand why the proceedings have started and we have always co operated with everyone since day 1.
The social worker's is always writing what she notices and I would say that so far she has not lied or written or said anything that is not true. She always tells me that she wants our daughter to come back home to us but i dont know if she actually means it or not?

I would just like to get some help or advice or maybe someone out there who is going through such experience or has experienced this.

1. How does the family court works in such cases? What are the possible evidences that we can give in court to prove our innocence?
2. How much of an affect will the experts report have on our case? What happens if some of the experts believe this to be an accident and others dont?
3. Can we get a second opinions if we dont agree with the experts reports?
4. I have been sent a medical bundle by my lawyer however it is filled with written reports. There is not a single scan or image of the XRAYS or MRI that were performed. Is it possible to get a hold onto these or are we only supposed to have the written reports? If we want second opinions then we will need original scans and images right?
5. I heard people saying that we can get our relatives/ friends and neighbours to write statements for us which we can use in court as a proof that we would never do that to our only child who is so much loved and cared for. Is this true? If so how can we do this and what type of things needs to be written?

I have heard and read so many different things from everyone that I do not know who to actually trust now. Some people say that it is impossible to get out or prove your innocence in such cases as they very complex. Others tell me that we will get our daughter back as long as everything about us is positive. I am in desperate need of right guidance so that we can prepare ourselves more and fight for our daughter till we get her back to her real home.

Sorry for such a long post, just wanted to share my story in the hope that I will get some answers. Thank you so much in advance.

[Suzie, FRG Adviser]

Dear User123

Welcome to the parents’ discussion forum and thank you for your post. My name is Suzie, and I am Family Rights Group online adviser.

You posted some time ago and I apologise that you did not receive a response before now due to volume of work and other issues. I hope that the information in this response will still be useful to you.

I am sorry to hear of the injury to your 11-month daughter which has been identified by the hospital as non-accidental and led to children’s services applying for an interim care order and the concern and distress you are experiencing with the ongoing care proceedings in relation to your daughter.

As you are in care proceedings you may find it helpful to read information from our website relating to care and related proceedings HERE

You have set out the background to your daughter’s injury and the subsequent steps taken by doctors, the hospital, children’s services, and the court. In your post you have asked specific questions which I will try to answer as clearly as I can using the same numbering as in your post:-

1. How does the family court works in such cases? What are the possible evidences that we can give in court to prove our innocence?

The purpose of the fact-finding hearing is for the judge to identify and make findings against any person who might be a perpetrator (i.e. causing the harm). This could be to rule someone out as a perpetrator or to say why one or more person could have caused or contributed to the harm. Failure to act could also be a possible finding depending on the circumstances of the case.

The judge will consider all the evidence, medical reports, expert opinion, and statements by the parties. In considering these the judge will reach a conclusion as to how and who might have caused the injury.

Regarding the evidence you can provide this is something you should discuss with your solicitor. Your evidence will be your explanation of how your daughter came to be hurt and the circumstances that led to it. The explanation given at the hospital was not accepted as responsible for the injury so this judge will be as stated above considering all the evidence and the experts’ evidence will be important.

You may find it helpful to read this important case about the specific principles the court considers in non-accidental injury cases

2. How much of an affect will the experts report have on our case? What happens if some of the experts believe this to be an accident and others dont?

The experts’ reports and opinions form an important part of the evidence before the court concerning a non-accidental injury. However, so does your evidence as it too is taken into account by the judge.

If you do not agree with the opinion of the experts, you will have an opportunity to challenge their opinion at the fact-finding hearing. This will be done by your solicitor or barrister cross-examining the expert witness, to highlight where you do not think that their opinion is correct.

3. Can we get a second opinions if we dont agree with the experts reports?

If you disagree with the opinions in the expert reports, you will be able to explain why you disagree in your evidence. Your legal representative will also cross examine the experts in court, to raise points where you do not agree with them. If the experts have different opinions between themselves, it may be that the court will direct the experts to speak and see if they can reach an agreed opinion. Your solicitor should discuss this with you on receipt of the reports.

It is the judge’s decision whether additional experts can be instructed and since there are already 3 experts, the judge will have to consider whether having an additional expert(s) will assist the court in reaching its decision before allowing instruction to happen.

4. I have been sent a medical bundle by my lawyer however it is filled with written reports. There is not a single scan or image of the XRAYS or MRI that were performed. Is it possible to get a hold onto reports. are we only supposed to have the written reports? If we want second opinions then we will need original scans and images right?

When the court gave permission for the experts to be instructed, they would have given permission for the expert to have access to documents within the care proceedings. This should include your daughter’s medical records.
Depending on the expert’s expertise, they should be given permission to view your daughter’s X-ray and/or MRI scans. But this is not something we can specifically advise on via our forums. This is something tt you should ask your solicitor about. If an expert were to provide an opinion without seeing all the evidence, then this would mean they could be challenged about the opinion they have given in the report. Your solicitor would also provide you with a copy of the letter of instruction to the experts who are asked specific questions and to provide their opinion.

You should discuss with your solicitor your wish to see the X-ray and MRI scans yourself to see if this can be arranged.

5. I heard people saying that we can get our relatives/ friends and neighbours to write statements for us which we can use in court as a proof that we would never do that to our only child who is so much loved and cared for. Is this true? If so how can we do this and what type of things needs to be written?

Unless the court gives permission for your relatives or friends to write statements in support of you, it is unlikely the court will read any of the statements. The court wants to hear from persons able to comment on the evidence or has direct knowledge relating to the issues being considered by the court. It is unlikely that the judge will doubt your love and care for your daughter. The fact is, she was injured, and finding out how this happened is the important issue. You say only you and your husband was present when she was hurt. However, this is something that you should discuss with your solicitor if it something that you would like to explore further.

Your solicitor may already have advised you to name any family or friend who can be assessed as possible carers for your daughter as this might be important depending on the final outcome of the case and the local authority's care plan for your daughter. There is information here HERE about family group conferences


Should you wish to speak to one or our experienced advisers, please telephone our free confidential advice line on 0808 801 0366. The advice line is open from 9.30am to 3pm Monday to Friday (except Bank Holidays)

I hope you will find this helpful.

Best wishes

Suzie

[KatKat10]

User123, get yourself a solicitor who is accredited in children's law.