Social services halt family court case after experts say baby injury was accident
Social services bosses have halted family court proceedings against the parents of an injured baby after specialists concluded that the little boy had probably been accidentally hurt.
The infant suffered a serious head injury during the summer of 2018 when he was three months old.
His sister, then aged about 12, said he had slipped from her arms when she was standing on the second step of a flight of stairs.
Doctors treating the baby initially thought evidence pointed to his injury having been deliberately inflicted and council social services bosses asked a family court judge to consider the case.
But, after reviews by independent experts pointed to the injury being caused accidentally, they have now halted proceedings.
Detail of the case has been outlined by Judge Robin Bedford, in a ruling published online, following family court hearings in Brighton.
The judge said the family could not be identified in media reports of the case.
But he said West Sussex County Council was the local authority involved.
Judge Bedford said the case showed the value of independent medical experts being brought in to review evidence.
Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd. 2019, All Rights Reserved. Picture (c) Acabashi / Creative Commons.
