Fostered Son Sues Council Chiefs

A man separated from his mum two days after his birth has called in police to investigate the social workers who kept them apart. David Morgan was given up for foster care by mum Catherine in 1967. But she changed her mind two days later.

She was then denied access and was not told where he had been placed. David, a nurse, discovered in 2000 he had been living just 15 miles from his mum and was reunited with her that year. But she died in 2003. David is also suing South Lanarkshire Council after discovering secret papers which confirmed his mum’s request had been turned down.

He has refused an ex-gratia payment of £10,000 from the council because it was tied to a gagging clause. Catherine was a single teenage mum pressured to give David up after giving birth at an unmarried mother’s home.

David said: “My mother spent all her life searching for me, while I searched for her. When she met my stepfather, the two of them even went on their wedding day to see social workers once more to ask for me to be with them. Instead of returning me, social workers placed me with foster parents in a neighbouring local authority.”

David also claims some of his carers were violent and abusive. He was given papers this year which show his mother, who lived in Clydebank, had demanded his return. He said: “All our lives would’ve been so different if we’d found each other. I would have had a proper mum to bring me up and a loving family.”

David’s lawyer, Cameron Fyfe, believes the council acted illegally. He said: “Under social work law at that time, local authorities were bound by law to return a child to its mother.”

A police spokesman said: “A number of issues are being investigated to ascertain whether criminality is involved.”