Council praises judge for publishing details of five-year-old’s foster case

Tower Hamlets Council bosses have welcomed a family court judge’s decision to publish detail of a case involving a five-year-old girl which made headlines after she was placed with foster carers who were not a cultural match.

Judge Khatun Sapnara has released an eight-page written order she made following a private hearing in the East London Family Court on Tuesday.

That document reveals some of the background to the case and outlines stances taken by the girl’s mother and social workers.

“We welcome the decision by the (judge) to publish the case management order,” said a Tower Hamlets Council spokesman.

“It supports our position that we always had the child’s best interests at heart and it was Tower Hamlets Council’s proposal to have the child moved to the care of her grandmother.

“It also gives other information about the case that we have been unable to provide in recent days due to legal restrictions to protect the child and foster parents from being identified.”

Debbie Jones (pictured), the council’s corporate director of children’s services, added: “Firstly, we are pleased that our proposal for the child to be cared for by a family member has been approved.

“It is something Tower Hamlets Council has been working towards for some time.

“As a local authority, our number one priority with foster care is ensuring a child is placed in a safe and loving environment.

“Our foster carers are qualified people from different backgrounds, with vast experience of looking after children.

“They represent the diverse make up of our borough which is a place where people of all backgrounds get on with one another.

“Once the decision was taken to place the child into temporary care, we had to find the best placement available at the time.

“While cultural background is always a significant consideration in making this decision, so too are other factors including remaining in the local area to promote contact with the child’s family and for the child to continue at the same school in order to give them as much stability as possible.

“We are disappointed with the tone of some of the media coverage especially given the judge’s comments that reporting has been intrusive for both the child and the foster carer.

“While we cannot go into details of a case that would identify a child in foster care, there are also inaccuracies in the reporting of it.

“For example, the child was in fact fostered by an English-speaking family of mixed race.

“We would like to give more details, but we are legally restricted from doing so.”

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