Cardiff City Council v A Mother
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Jonathan Furness |
| Judgment Date | 17 May 2021 |
| Neutral Citation | [2021] EWFC 44 |
| Date | 17 May 2021 |
| Docket Number | Case No: CF20C50077 |
| Court | Family Court |
[2021] EWFC 44
IN THE FAMILY COURT AT CARDIFF
Cardiff Civil and Family Justice Centre
2 Park Street
Cardiff
CF10 1ET
HIS HONOUR JUDGE Jonathan Furness QC
Case No: CF20C50077
Legal Representation
Mrs Sheila Radcliffe (Barrister) on behalf of the Applicant
Mr Andrew Neaves (Barrister) on behalf of the First Respondent
Ms Michelle Jones (Solicitor) on behalf of the Second Respondent
Ms Sian Clarke (Solicitor) on behalf of the Third Respondent
His Honour Judge Jonathan Furness QC:
I am dealing today with two children. X, born in 2009 who is 12, and Y, born in October 2020 who is now four months old. Y, as I say, was born at full gestation, but in December, when he was almost two months old he was seen for a check up and some bruises were noticed. What followed was that he was referred to hospital because of those bruises, and a CT scan of the head was taken which was indicative of a non displaced fracture to the left parietal bone, according to the radiologist who looked at that CT scan.
A further skeletal survey was carried out which also showed linear lucency in that region. It was therefore believed that this little boy had suffered bruising and a fractured skull, for which there was no explanation. I should say no explanation for the fractured skull because the mother had indicated that it might be possible that the bruising had been caused by too strong a grip whilst changing a particularly virulent nappy. The Local Authority then felt it needed to take protective measures for the children, and it was right to do so on the basis of the medical evidence with which it was presented.
The parents, very responsibly gave their consent to the children going to live with the maternal grandfather, which is what happened in December of last year. Proceedings were then started and there was an initial hearing before me on 23rd December 2020, when I made an Interim Care Order in respect of Y. I ordered a report then from Dr Olsen, a Consultant Paediatric Radiologist, and that early hearing was, as it happens, very useful because it enabled the Court to order that report from Dr Olsen very early on in the proceedings, which meant that it has now been...
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