Independent report clears Haringey
social workers in ‘baby snatch’ case
Two Haringey Council social workers who allegedly “snatched” a baby from outside
his former foster home have been cleared of breaching good practice guidelines.
An independent report, commissioned by the north London council, found the
practitioners removed the child for adoption quickly because they believed his
former foster carer would abscond with him and would not co-operate with them.
But the report, seen by Community Care, criticises the lack of support provided
to the carer after the removal of the child, known as Child C, whom she had
looked after for 16 months.
And it has emerged that the copy of the report intended for the foster carer was
sent to her neighbour, who opened it, due to a mistake in the address.
Opposition Liberal Democrat councillor Bob Hare said he was “absolutely
appalled” by the mistake and said he would write to director of children’s
services Sharon Shoesmith to complain.
The child was taken from the carer in August last year, hours after she lost a
High Court battle for guardianship, and was placed with adoptive parents.
The report rejects the carer’s complaint that Child C’s abrupt removal breached
good practice, despite five witness statements from neighbours that the social
workers ran with the child, who was screaming, to a nearby car. According to the
report, the practitioners had concerns that the carer was a “flight risk”,
despite Child C not holding a passport.
However, it upholds part of the carer's complaint that she had been left
“sobbing on the pavement”. “The lack of co-ordination to provide support for the
carer was concerning," the report states. "She was undoubtedly left alone in a
very distressed state following the child’s removal.”
The report recommends the carer should receive an acknowledgement from Haringey
of the distress the child’s removal caused her and that she should be allowed to
write a goodbye letter or make a video.
A spokesperson for the council said: “It is a detailed and comprehensive report
and we accept its findings in full.”
Contact the author: Sally Gillen
sally.gillen@rbi.co.uk
