The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal from two parents who lost custody of their children following abuse.
In Re M, the couple’s four children were removed from the family home after abuse described as ‘torture’ in case documents. The children were placed in care and the local authority received legal permission to refuse the parents further contact.
Later the parents applied for contact, based on statements made by the two younger children, aged 12 and 16, who said they were interested in contact with their parents. The couple’s older children were both over the age of 18 and had not changed their views. Their applications were dismissed and the parents appealed.
Lord Justices Thorpe, Longmore and Patten dismissed the appeal, saying it lacked foundation. They said the original judge had dealt with a difficult case professionally and had taken care to consider the case of each child separately.
