Parents cleared of abuse vow to fight adoption order with ‘last breath’

By The Press Association9th October 2015News EnglandAdoption, Child Protection, Childrens Services, News England, Surrey

The parents of a baby taken into care at six weeks old and later adopted have vowed to “fight till our last breath” to be reunited with their child after a court cleared them of abuse.

Karrissa Cox and Richard Carter were found not guilty of causing injury to their baby more than three years after they took the child to hospital upon finding bleeding in the mouth.

Doctors, fearing child abuse after finding bruising on the baby’s body and “healing fractures” on an X-ray, then recommended the youngster be taken into care by social services, which later found adoptive parents following a ruling of abuse by the family courts.

Now both Ms Cox and Mr Carter have said they plan to launch a legal battle to overturn the adoption but lawyers expressed doubts they will ever see the child again.

In a statement the pair, both 25, said: “We took our child to the hospital seeking help and they stole our baby from us.”

The couple were exonerated at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday after defence experts discovered the child was suffering from a blood disorder called Von Willebrands II, which causes a person to bruise easily, as well as a vitamin D deficiency and infantile rickets.

After contesting the defence expert evidence, the prosecution engaged an independent radiologist, who concluded he doubted there were any fractures at all.

That led prosecutors to offer no evidence and not guilty verdicts to be entered, according to law firm Garden Court Chambers.

The couple, of Guildford, Surrey, had been allowed supervised contact with the child when in care until the youngster was adopted last year.

Ms Cox told the Daily Mirror: “It is heartbreaking to know our child is out there, living and breathing in someone else’s arms.

“We miss our child a lot. We wish we had our child back. The pain has never got any less. We see people out and about with their children and can only think, ‘Why us?’ Why did they take our child away from us for no reason?”

Afghanistan war veteran Mr Carter added: “We will fight till our last breath. No parent should go through this ever. This just rips your soul away from you. We wouldn’t wish this on anyone.

“We keep each other strong. We have lost three and a half years. We had contact but have missed everything our child has done. We have missed all those memories.”

The couple’s barrister, Michael Turner QC, of Garden Court Chambers, said: “These innocent parents have been spared a criminal conviction and a prison sentence for a crime they never committed. Their life sentence is that they are likely never to see their baby again.”

Emma Fenn, also of Garden Court Chambers, said: “This tragic case highlights the real dangers of the Government’s drive to increase adoption and speed up family proceedings at all costs.

“It also shows the perils of the continued inaction relating to a nationwide epidemic of vitamin D deficiency and rickets and the grave injustice that can result when relying on the opinions of medical professionals alone to conclude child abuse.”