Baby in care in row over formula milk

PARENTS had their baby taken away after hospital staff complained about the father’s preference for formula milk.

His ‘unorthodox’ wish for bottle feeding was reported to social workers, who then removed the child.

The parents, whose son was taken for nearly three months, were awarded more than £11,000 compensation by a High Court judge yesterday.

But Mr Justice Cobb condemned lawyers for the family who racked up a £120,000 bill – more than ten times the compensation order.

The demands of the lawyers means the parents, who have learning difficulties, will get none of the money awarded.

The hospital reported to social workers in Kirklees, West Yorkshire, that ‘the father was expressing unorthodox views about the need for sterilisation of bottles, and the benefits of formula milk’.

The baby was sent to live with his grandparents.

The family cannot be named under secrecy rules. Details of how the child was taken into care, and the scandal of the legal bills that followed, were only made public in Mr Justice Cobb’s ruling yesterday.

The baby was born in November 2015 to parents in their mid-20s. The mother, the judge said, is hearing impaired and has minor mental ill-health.

The father was said to display controlling and aggressive behaviour, and to ‘struggle to manage his frustrations’. The hospital – also unnamed – referred the couple to Kirklees social workers amid concerns over the ability of the couple to care for their child.

Medical staff said the mother had no support from her family and reported the father’s attitude to bottle feeding. Social workers removed the baby and failed to tell the parents what they were doing. They went on to take the case to a family court hearing, also without telling the parents.

An independent social worker sent to inquire into the case said she ‘struggled to understand’ why the baby was taken into care. The child was returned to his parents in February last year, and is now said to be thriving.

The compensation case dragged on for more than 15 months, according to the judgement yesterday, despite instruction from the judge that the family’s lawyers negotiate a ‘realistic’ settlement.

Lawyers produced more than 2,000 pages of evidence and the argument went to a High Court hearing which involved a QC and four other barristers, three firms of solicitors, and lawyers for the council.

The £11,250 in damages that was awarded by the judge will be taken by the Legal Aid Agency to pay towards the high sums handed to the lawyers.

Mr Justice Cobb said he would not award damages high enough to cover the costs – which would make sure the parents were paid – as it ‘would require me to ignore or forgive any reckless, wasteful or profligate manufacture of costs’.

Courts are reluctant to pay out high compensation in child care cases because judges do not want to discourage social workers from intervening in cases of genuine neglect and abuse, he said.

The judge added: ‘I am dismayed that the preparation of the case has been undertaken in a way which was not only contrary to my formal direction, but was wholly disproportionate to the issues.’

The judge ordered damages of £3,750 each for the mother, father and baby and said it was ‘regrettable’ the family would not receive the sums.

‘Unorthodox view’