Judge ruling on children’s futures rejects claims on drug addiction

By The Press Association15th March 2016News WalesAddiction, Child Protection, Childrens Services, Drugs, Families, News Wales, North Wales

A family court judge asked to make decisions on the futures of four children whose father was a crack addict has rejected the argument that chronic drug addiction can be “controlled and managed”.

Judge Gareth Jones said domestic acrimony, violent confrontation and criminal activity were the pitfalls of chronic addiction.

He said the parenting ability of people with a sustained history of involvement with drugs “inevitably deteriorated”.

Judge Jones had been asked to make decisions about four children aged between 13 and four at a family court hearing in Rhyl, Denbighshire.

Their father had told how he could spend up to £150 a day on crack – before undergoing “home detox” – and their mother had also misused substances.

“The parents argued amongst themselves (probably because of the pressures within the household) and this spilled over into domestic acrimony and violent confrontation,” said the judge in a ruling on the case.

“The father was drawn into criminal activity to feed his habit, and there was the ever-present prospect of police involvement or prosecution, and ultimately imprisonment, which threatened the security of the family unit.”

He added: “These are the pitfalls of chronic drug addiction. There is a belief that drug addiction can be controlled and managed in some way. I reject that contention; in my experience almost inevitably, when parents have a sustained history of involvement with drugs (particularly class A drugs of this type) their parenting inevitably deteriorates.”

The judge said the children’s family life had become “pretty miserable” and physical and emotional harm had resulted or was “in prospect”.

Judge Jones said the children had been temporarily placed with foster carers a year ago, following the intervention of social workers, pending decisions on their long-term futures.

He said social services bosses had asked for all four to be placed into local authority care.

The judge said the two older children should be placed into long-term foster care. He has yet to make final decisions on the futures of the younger children.