Says sex scandal survivor Sammy Woodhouse
Rights Charter will have no effect in UK law once we leave the EU in 2019.
The ruling came after an unnamed mum took legal action against Poole Borough Council in Dorset for failing to protect her disabled son from the antisocial behaviour of neighbours.
The judgment said: “No duty of care can be owed by a l ocal social services authority in the exercise of its child protection functions to investigate and take action to prevent significant harm to children, whatever its source.”
The move means social workers effectively will not be held responsible for some of the most shocking abuse cases if victims were not taken into care or made wards of court. Councils were previously forced to pay out if lawyers could prove staff failed to act on information which could have helped protect a child from abuse. Sammy was 14 when she was groomed by violent criminal Arshid Hussain. Just months later, she fell pregnant to him and was missing for days on end as he lured her into his twisted world and forced her to commit crimes. Social workers knew of her plight and her devastated parents eventually agreed she should be taken into care. But even while Sammy was with foster parents, Hussain was allowed access to the vulnerable teen and continued ed to rape and beat her.
Sammy’s records rds also pointed to a prominent politiician in the town n helping her abuser dodge justice.
Yet she will face an uphill battle to o prove the council il had a duty of care are towards her throughout ghout her hell because a care order was not in place for the entire period.
Hussain was eventually jailed for 35 years in 2016 after Sammy told police about her ordeal and accessed social services records which revealed t hat t he authorities were fully aware of her torment but did not act. Sammy said: “I cannot understand why this ruling has come in into effect. It’s aston astonishing and will hav have a devastating im impact on child p protection. “The failure of the authorities to acknowle edge my abuse is d detailed in black an and white. They kne knew exactly what was happening happ but they did not protect me. ” Another Rotherham victim, who targeted by paedophiles at 12, said: “Many abused children miss out on school or need therapy as adults to cope with what they have experienced. They use compensation money to access counselling or to get qualifications.
“It seems to me like politicians and the legal system are more intent on protecting professionals than vulnerable children.
“Now it looks like the professionals will get off scot-free.”
The ruling will also have a devastating impact on those who were abused in their family home as children.
Earlier this year, Danni Smith, now 27, sued Brighton Council for a five-figure sum.
Social workers knew he was starved, raped and beaten by his stepdad but did not remove him for nine years. Under the current rules, he would not be entitled to compensation.