Law digests: 11 November 2022

Children

Re A (children) (pool of perpetrators) [2022] EWCA Civ 1348, [2022] All ER (D) 76 (Oct)

The Court of Appeal, Civil Division, allowed the father’s appeal against the decision of the Family Court that made findings against the parents of a baby, A, of a failure to protect and of collusion. A had sustained life-threatening injuries while in the care of her parents. The issues before the court were: (i) whether the judge erred in his application of the law in relation to uncertain perpetrator cases and, as a consequence, was in error in finding that the father was within the pool of possible perpetrators in relation to the earlier fracture and head injuries sustained by A; and (ii) whether the judge was wrong to find that he, the father, had colluded with the mother and, if he was not the perpetrator, whether he had failed to protect A from his mother. The court held, among other things, that the finding that the father was in the pool of potential perpetrators