Woman who had children taken from her faces jail for sharing case details online

A 54-year-old woman who says her children were unfairly taken from her could be jailed after a judge concluded that she had wrongly posted information relating to family court litigation on Facebook.

Social services bosses at Medway Council, which is based in Chatham, Kent, had complained that Sara Root published information online in 2018 in breach of court orders.

Mrs Justice Theis on Monday made a number of rulings in their favour, after a hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London, and concluded that Ms Root was in contempt of court.

The judge adjourned sentencing until March 6.

She said Ms Root’s children could not be identified in media reports of the case.

Ms Root, who lives on the outskirts of London, has already been penalised for breaching orders limiting the publication of information about family court proceedings involving her children.

In May 2018, Mrs Justice Theis ruled that she wrongly published information on Facebook and handed her a suspended six-month prison sentence.

In August 2017, Judge Richard Polden also handed Ms Root a suspended six-month jail term after concluding that she had wrongly published material on Facebook.

“I’m worried that I will be sent to jail,” said Ms Root, who used to work as a receptionist and model, after Mrs Justice Theis’s ruling on Monday.

“All I want to do is see my children.”

She added: “I think I’ve been treated unfairly and I’m angry and upset.”

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