Toddler placed in care after ‘chronic malnutrition’, family court judge hears

A toddler was taken into care after doctors said she was suffering “chronic malnutrition”, a family court judge has heard.

Medics said the little girl was 14 months old but was as heavy as a six-month-old baby.

They said she had difficulty using her facial muscles and her legs were unable to bear her weight.

Detail of the girl’s case has emerged in a ruling by Judge Michelle Corbett following a private hearing in a family court in London.

The judge did not identify the little girl, now two years old, but indicated she had been living in London.

Judge Corbett said social services bosses at Merton Council (pictured) had welfare responsibilities for the girl and had asked for decisions to be made about where she should live in the long term.

The girl’s mother was in her early 20s and from Slovakia.

She had two other children living in Slovakia with a relative.

Judge Corbett said judges in Slovakia should make decisions about the girl’s long-term future.

She gave social work bosses permission to take the youngster out of England so she could be placed in foster care in Slovakia.

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