Social workers develop special care plan for teenage brother of jihadis killed in Syria
A 17-year-old boy whose two older brothers have been killed while “waging jihad” in Syria has been made the subject of a special care plan designed to keep him safe for the next few years, a High Court judge has been told.
Mr Justice Hayden has approved a “pathway plan” developed for the teenager by social services staff at Brighton and Hove City Council (pictured).
He revealed detail in a ruling after analysing the case in a private hearing at the Family Division of the High Court in London.
The judge said the teenager had lived in Britain in an “extraordinary family” whose “male members were all committed to waging jihad in Syria”.
He said the teenager could not be named.
Two years ago Mr Justice Hayden barred the teenager from travelling abroad.
He made the youngster a ward of court – a move which allows a judge to take parental responsibility and control a child’s movements.
But Mr Justice Hayden said the teenager would turn 18 this year – and become an adult – and only children could be wards of court.
“(He) turns 18 years of age in 2017 and the wardship will automatically fall away,” said the judge in his ruling.
“I have been concerned that the support and protection offered to (him) should not simply evaporate on his 18th birthday, he does not become less vulnerable merely by chronological age.”
The judge said council bosses had authorised the creation of a “bespoke” service for the teenager and staff had developed a “special” care plan designed to suit his needs.
Mr Justice Hayden added: “(He) will have a pathway plan until he is 21 and which will be reviewed every six months and (his) current social worker will be appointed his personal adviser on his 18th birthday to provide consistency.”
The judge said the plan could be “withdrawn in the face of persistent non-engagement” and went on: “(He) will have to agree to ‘information sharing’, which will involve submitting to a degree of intrusion.”
He praised the “conspicuous professional skill and commitment” shown by council staff involved in the boy’s case.
Mr Justice Hayden said judges and social services staff faced challenges when dealing with children and young people in danger of radicalisation.
He said children in their mid and late teens were often perceived as “hard to reach” and the same challenges applied to “this new facet of child protection”.
But he said there was a “pressing need” to put “some kind of supportive measures in place”.
“The contemplated harm is grave, i.e. the individual child secretly leaving the UK either to fight jihad or to become a jihadi bride,” he said.
“These cases involve risk of death and, particularly in the case of female children, exposure to degrading and inhuman treatment.
“Brighton and Hove City Council … have gone to great lengths to keep the young person with whom I have been concerned safe and secure in the UK.
“(He) is a particularly vulnerable young person who (latterly) has lived in Britain in an extraordinary family, where the male members are all committed to waging jihad in Syria.”
The judge said three of the teenager’s brothers had travelled to Syria to fight for Jabhat al Nusra – an al Qaida affiliate now called Jabhat Fateh al-Sham.
Two of the teenager’s brothers and one close friend had died there.
Mr Justice Hayden said one of the teenager’s uncles had been a detainee at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility in Cuba.
“The bespoke package proposed by Brighton and Hove City Council in this case addresses (the teenager’s) needs across a broad range,” added the judge.
“In these challenging and evolving cases, a universal truth must not be forgotten: every child is different and every radicalised child is different.”
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