Social services fail to prove man with domestic violence history smothered baby

Social services bosses have failed to prove that a man with a history of domestic violence deliberately smothered his partner’s 13-month-old son – but a senior family court judge says suspicion remains.

Mr Justice Peter Jackson outlined his thoughts in a ruling on the latest round of long-running family court litigation following the toddler’s death more than two years ago.

He said council social workers had welfare responsibilities for other children in the family and wanted a finding of fact on how the toddler had died.

Lawyers representing social services bosses said evidence showed that the man had intentionally smothered the little boy – the man protested his innocence.

The judge said council bosses had not proved or “established on the balance of probabilities” that the man had deliberately smothered the boy.

But he said a “considerable degree of suspicion and uncertainty” remained about events surrounding the boy’s death.

He said he could not “exclude the possibility” that the man had deliberately smothered the boy.

Mr Justice Jackson, who is based in the Family Division of the High Court in London, said none of the people involved could be identified – and referred to the man only as “Mr C”.

But he said bosses at Lancashire County Council had launched proceedings.

He said the youngster had been found dead at home in 2014.

Evidence showed that the toddler had almost certainly died as a result of being asphyxiated.

Police had investigated but prosecutors had not proceeded to trial and the man had not been convicted of murder.

But another family court judge had in 2015 concluded – on the balance of probabilities – that the man had smothered the boy.

Appeal judges had overturned that ruling – after the man mounted a challenge – and Mr Justice Jackson had overseen a fresh fact-finding hearing.

“I find this matter to be unusually finely balanced,” said Mr Justice Jackson in his ruling.

“I have concluded that the local authority has not established on the balance of probabilities that (the toddler) was deliberately smothered by Mr C.”

But he added: “I acknowledge that my conclusion is accompanied by a considerable degree of suspicion and uncertainty about the events of that night.

“I cannot exclude the possibility that Mr C deliberately smothered (the toddler), but this has not been proved, and accordingly it will be treated as a matter of law as not having occurred.”

Mr Justice Jackson said evidence showed that the man had regularly beaten his partner and neglected children in his care.

He said the man had been convicted of assault and neglect and had spent time in jail.

The man had been convicted of assaulting his partner after prosecutors told how he had grabbed her hair, hit her head into the wall repeatedly, head-butted her and lifted her “from the floor by the nose with his teeth”, Mr Justice Jackson said.

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