Judge rules against social workers in alleged baby assault case

Social services staff have failed to prove that a five-month-old baby suffered broken bones as a result of an assault after a family court judge heard that he was probably suffering from rickets.

Medics told Mr Justice Peter Jackson that the condition – which is caused by a vitamin D deficiency and makes bones weak – might have made the little boy “susceptible” to fractures.

The judge said social services bosses at Cumbria County Council had asked him to rule that injuries had been “inflicted” by the baby’s mother or her partner.

But he concluded that the council had not “proved its case” after analysing evidence at a hearing in Barrow, Cumbria.

He said the fact that the baby was probably suffering from rickets meant that conclusions that “might have been drawn in a normal case” would be unsafe.

The family involved was not identified.

Earlier this year, health chiefs raised concerns about the return of rickets, a disease common during Victorian times but virtually eradicated during the Second World War.

Medics say vitamin D largely comes from the exposure of skin to sunlight.

Mr Justice Jackson said the little boy had been taken to hospital with a fractured skull, broken ribs and a broken wrist.

He said there was no evidence that the baby’s mother or her partner had a “propensity for serious violence” to children.

And he said the injuries were not “particularly suggestive of inflicted injury”.

“This is an exceptional case,” said the judge.

“In a child with a normal metabolism the almost inevitable conclusion would be that these fractures, and in particular the broken ribs and wrist, would be likely to be the result of violence or at least of rough handling.

“Likewise, it would normally be extremely unlikely that such serious injuries as a skull fracture and a subdural haemorrhage would result from such a low fall. Taken together, the medical picture would point strongly to inflicted injury.

“However, the fact that (the baby) was probably suffering from rickets means that conclusions that might have been drawn in a normal case would be unreliable and unsafe in this case.”

He said the council, which had responsibility for the little boy’s welfare, had been right to ask a family court judge to make decisions.

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