A Health and Social Care Trust and A Mother and A Father and in the matter of OM (a male child ages 10 and 1/2 years)
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judge | McFarland J |
| Judgment Date | 28 May 2021 |
| Neutral Citation | [2021] NIFam 16 |
| Court | Family Division (Northern Ireland) |
| Date | 28 May 2021 |
1
Neutral Citation No: [2021] NIFam 16
Judgment: approved by the Court for handing down
(subject to editorial corrections)*
Ref: McF11533
ICOS: 16/055603/05
Delivered: 28/05/2021
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE IN NORTHERN IRELAND
___________
FAMILY DIVISION
OFFICE OF CARE AND PROTECTION
___________
Between:
A HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE TRUST
Plaintiff
-v-
A MOTHER AND A FATHER
Defendants
IN THE MATTER OF OM (A MALE CHILD AGED 10½ YEARS)
___________
Mr A Magee QC and Ms J Lindsay BL (instructed by the Directorate of Legal Services) for
the Trust
Ms N McGrenera QC with Ms M McHugh BL (instructed by Quigley, Grant & Kyle
solicitors) for the Guardian ad Litem on behalf of the child
___________
McFARLAND J
Introduction
[1] This judgment has been anonymised to protect the identity of the child. I
have used the cipher OM for the name of the child. These are not his initials.
Nothing can be published that will identify OM.
[2] OM is now 10½ years of age. He, and other siblings, were made the subject of
a care order on 8 May 2018. His parents have largely disengaged with the Trust and
the court in relation to his care. It is clear that they are opposed to the care planning.
They have not participated in these proceedings. They are currently residing in the
Republic of Ireland, but they had been made aware of the hearing which took place
on 19 May 2021 and had been given the various links that would have enabled them
to attend the hearing remotely. There was no appearance at the hearing from either.
2
[3] It would be fair description to say that the care planning for OM has been
fraught with difficulty and it has been a significant struggle for the Trust to manage
OM given his extreme behaviour.
[4] There is general agreement between the Trust and the Guardian ad Litem
(“the GAL”) that by any application of the welfare checklist (see Article 3(3) of the
Children (NI) Order 1995 (“the 1995 Order”)) his needs are best served in his current
placement. The journey to that placement has been very difficult. Essentially all
options in Northern Ireland were considered and on some occasions had been put
into place, but had failed. This culminated in a spectacular failure in one specialist
home in March 2020. At that stage an option was considered involving another
specialist institution in the Republic of Ireland and OM has been placed there since
March 2020. He has achieved an element of stability and progress. All the
professional opinion confirms that this is the institution which will best promote
OM’s welfare, and applying the welfare test, which is paramount in the court’s
approach, I consider that the evidence is overwhelming.
[5] I do not propose to give more detail concerning the evidence or this
placement in case it provides an opportunity for the parents to identify the
institution and attempt to interfere with, or even abduct, OM. They have a track
record for such conduct in relation to older children. Such an eventuality could have
a devastating impact on OM.
[6] Before moving on to deal with the law, I would like to take this opportunity
to place on record an appreciation for all the work undertaken by social work staff
and others who have struggled with the care planning of this case, particularly the
social work staff who have been on the ‘front-line’ and have had to deal with the day
to day care of OM. It has been a most difficult task.
Article 33 of the 1995 Order.
[7] The relevant parts of Article 33 of the 1995 Order are as follows;
“(1) An authority may only arrange for, or assist in
arranging for, any child in its care to live outside Northern
Ireland with the approval of the court.
(2) An authority may, with the approval of every person
who has parental responsibility for the child, arrange for, or
assist in arranging for, any other child looked after by the
authority to live outside Northern Ireland.
(3) The court shall not give its approval under paragraph
(1) unless it is satisfied that—
(a) living outside Northern Ireland would be in the child’s
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A Grandmother v A Mother in the matter of a female child GE aged 4 years
...approach as we adopt for cases of the Court of Session in Scotland should be followed in the case of Northern Ireland.” [23] In Re OM [2021] NIFam 16 in a case involving identical statutory language in the Children (NI) Order and the Children Act I adopted a similar approach stating at [42]......
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A Health and Social Care Trust and A Mother and A Father and in the matter of a female child ages 1 year)
...of consent was considered by McFarland J in the case of A Health and Social Care Trust v A Mother and A Father (In the Matter of OM) [2021] NIFam 16. Where material he said: “[14] Dealing first with the consent of the parents, when considering whether a parent is withholding consent unreaso......
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A Health and Social Care Trust and A Mother and A Father
...this conundrum has been comprehensively dealt with by McFarland J in his judgment in In the Matter of OM (A Male 8 Aged 10½ Years) [2021] NIFam 16. After a careful analysis of the authorities McFarland J decided that wording of Article 33(4) — in circumstances akin to those in the present c......
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A Health and Social Care Trust and A Mother and A Father and in the matter of WP (A male child aged 15 years)
...are unable to secure the best interests of a child (see Re T (a minor) [1993] 4 All ER 518, Father v Mother [2018] NIFam 10, and Re OM [2021] NIFam 16). [13] Article 3 of the 1995 Order provides as follows: “(1) Where a court determines any question with respect to— (a) the upbringing of a ......