Family proceedings—Interim care order—Findings of fact by judge

Court of Appeal, Civil Division, Sir Nicholas Wall P, Arden and Wilson LJJ, 7 Dec 2010

The Court of Appeal has given guidance on Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA 1998) applications in care proceedings.

Sally Bradley QC and Lindy Armitage for the authority. Sarah Singleton QC and Vicki James for the mother. Guy Swiffen for the guardian.

S was born in prison in August 2009. In November 2009, the local authority instituted care proceedings and sought an interim care order. The mother had been observed feeding the baby in a dangerous manner known as “prop feeding” on a number of occasions. When the authority learned of that, it instructed the prison authorities to call the police to separate S from her mother under a police protection order. On 11 December 2009, an interim care order was made. The judge also made a number of findings of fact which were critical of the authority.