Mohammed, R (on the application of) v Local Safeguarding Children's Board For Islington & Anor

Judgment

The Honourable Mr Justice Cobb:

Introduction & summary

The Claimant, Deeqa Mohammed, is the mother of a young girl, Nawaal, who on 25 June 2013 fell to her death from the 11 th storey of a block in the local authority area of the Interested Party, the London Borough of Islington (“LB Islington”); at the time of her death Nawaal was aged 7 years 4 months old. For some years, Nawaal had presented with challenging behaviours on the autistic spectrum, and had for the majority of her life been the subject of assessments, and interventions, by various departments within LB Islington. Specifically, LB Islington Housing Department had been directly involved in considering the Claimant’s eligibility for re-housing.

By application dated 6 June 2014, the Claimant sought a mandatory order by way of judicial review requiring the Defendant to commission a Serious Case Review (“SCR”) into the death of her daughter. She further sought:

An order pursuant to extending time for the issue of her application; CPR rule 3.1

An order directing that the matter is fit for expedition and such directions and orders as are necessary to ensure that the matter is heard as soon as possible.

The application for permission to apply for judicial review was considered on the papers by Mr Justice Mitting on 26 June 2014, and was refused by him (see [23] below). The application was listed for hearing in August 2014, but then adjourned (for reasons explained at [24-25] below).

The Defendant then sought advice from the National Panel of Independent Experts (“NPIE”) about the issues arising in this claim. On 27 August 2014, and following receipt of that advice, the Defendant informed the Claimant that it would after all conduct an SCR in relation to the death of Nawaal. It invited the Claimant to withdraw the claim; the Claimant declined to do so. The renewed application for permission was listed for hearing on 12 November 2014.

Shortly before the listed hearing date, the Claimant requested a further adjournment, having encountered further difficulties with her public funding; this application to adjourn was placed before me on 10 November. Although not unsympathetic, I declined the application having been informed that a meeting of the Legal Aid Agency Special Controls Review Panel was due to take place that day; I hoped that the legal aid issue would be resolved (one way or another) in time for the hearing. My optimism was, unusually, rewarded. By the time of the hearing o