P (A Child: Fair Hearing)

Lord Justice Peter Jackson:

Rule 52.21(3)(b) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 provides that an appeal court will allow an appeal where the decision of the lower court was unjust because of a serious procedural or other irregularity in the proceedings in the lower court. In this case the appellant mother argues that the Family Court should not have continued a hearing and made a placement order permitting the adoption of her child but should instead have adjourned to allow her to obtain legal representation after her lawyers had withdrawn at an advanced stage of the hearing.

The context

The subject of the proceedings is C, a girl born in October 2021. When she was a day old, her local authority issued care proceedings and she was placed in foster care, where she remains. After assessments were carried out, an application for a placement order was issued in May 2022. The proceedings were listed for a five-day final hearing starting on 24 October 2022.

C is her parents’ only child, but between them they have nine others. Of her mother’s four older children, one lives with a relative under a special guardianship order, two are in foster care, and one has been adopted. The father has five older children from relationships with two women, one being the mother’s older sister; both have accused him of violence towards them.

In 2015, in proceedings concerning her fourth child, the mother was assessed by a clinical psychologist as having a learning disability and a Full-Scale IQ of 63 (1 st percentile). In the present proceedings, directions were given in July 2022 on the basis that she was to be regarded as a vulnerable individual. She accordingly had the assistance of a lay advocate at the final hearing.

The father has a substantial criminal history dating back to 1998 for theft, robbery, burglary, violence, criminal damage, possession of cannabis, and driving offences, and has served a number of prison sentences. During the present proceedings, a psychological assessment considered that he would be likely to meet the threshold for a diagnosis of psychopathy.

1. By neglect.

2. Neither parent sufficiently understands the impact that their domestically abusive relationship might have on their child exemplified by: a) M’s repeated re-entry into the relationship despite making repeated complaints of domestic abuse and violence by F examples of this include: i) On 29th July 2021, M reconciled with F and allowed him to re-enter the property, despite reporting d