A distraught mother told last night how her tiny daughter was taken away from
her over Christmas after she was wrongly accused of baby-battering.
Tearful Donna Morrell rushed two-month-old Bonita to hospital because she
feared the tot was poorly.
But the stunned single mum said social workers claimed she had caused serious
head and arm injuries to the infant.
And Bonita was forced to stay in for four nights - even though Donna said
doctors had initially discharged her.
The 26-year-old wept as she told The People how she was:
Ordered back to the hospital by police after she took Bonita home from
casualty;
Banned from being alone with Bonita while her baby was being checked out;
Cautioned by cops and interrogated like a criminal; and
Barred from letting the tot spend her first ever Christmas at home with her
family.
Heartbroken Donna said: "They destroyed any happy memories I should have had
of Bonita's first Christmas and I will never forgive them for that.
"I took my daughter to hospital to get help and was treated like a criminal
for it.
"When I asked how they could do this to a baby at this time of year they told
me not to worry because she wouldn't remember.
"But what about me? I will remember it."
Donna added: "They kept saying it was in her best interests. "How can taking a
baby away from its caring mother be in its best interests?
"I appreciate social services have to do their job and children must be kept
safe at all times.
"But this incident was insane. There was no common sense used at all."
Donna said her nightmare began on Christmas Eve after Bonita - who almost
never cries - began weeping.
The worried mum, of Ramsgate, Kent, thought Bonita may have been hurt when she
accidentally slipped from her grasp during a feed.
And even though she could find no sign of injury, Donna decided to take her to
the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital in nearby Margate.
She said doctors found a tiny hairline fracture on Bonita's left arm which may
have happened during changing or bathing.
Donna claimed they sent the tot home after fixing a check-up in a week-though
hospital chiefs later insisted they had not discharged her. But as Donna went
to leave, a nurse told her a bone specialist wanted to do some extra tests.
Donna, who was at the hospital with her dad Keith, was quizzed about how the
fracture happened - and about her personal life.
She said she was so distressed by the questions she begged Keith, 54, to take
her home - ignoring medics who wanted Bonita to stay.
Donna told The People cops arrived at her flat later the same day demanding to
photograph the inside of the home.
She said they also insisted on taking Bonita back to hospital to have her arm
plastered.
But angry Donna added: "That was nonsense - even though we were there for four
nights, her arm was never put in a cast."
She claimed cops told her they had been called in following a complaint by a
ward manager.
Donna said: "The manager didn't seem to like it that me and dad wanted to take
Bonita home for Christmas while they were quizzing me and said I neglected her
by doing so.
"Me, dad and Bonita drove to the hospital in one car with the police car
following close behind.
"We were led through the hospital by the officers. We were mortified.
"I was treated like a criminal when all I had wanted to do was make sure my
baby was OK."
Donna was grilled again before two social workers were called in.
She was told Bonita would need a full-body X-ray and had to be kept in until
the results were analysed.
But with no X-ray staff available till Boxing Day, Donna's dream of a perfect
first Christmas with Bonita crumbled. She raged: "Everyone there went home for
a nice family Christmas and there we were, stuck.
"All I could think of was how her injury could have happened.
"Had it been when I wasn't with her? It made me feel paranoid - it was
horrible."
On Boxing Day, a doctor said Donna could take Bonita home.
But she claimed no one told the social workers - who refused to let them
leave. And next day Donna was quizzed once more.
She recalled: "They told me they had found an abnormality in Bonita's skull
and were treating this as a second injury.
They were talking to me as though I'd done it.
"They said I had to be with someone if I wanted to see my daughter.
"Once social services took control there was nothing I could do. I felt
utterly hopeless and miserable."
Donna was then told cops planned to quiz her, Keith and mum Sharon, 48, under
caution about the injuries
She said: "I was sick with worry and had barely slept for days, so mum
insisted on taking me home for the night.
"It was hell being away from Bonita and I even rang the hospital at 3am to
check on her.
"Next morning we had to go to Margate police station.
"The officer was nice - but being interviewed wasn't. I was asked about being
a single mum alone with Bonita, if I'd ever lost my temper, even if I'd thrown
her against a wall. But she never cries, so why would I lose my temper with
her?"
Donna added: "I broke down at the end. I didn't know who to turn to - I felt
like nobody believed me.
"Thank God I had my parents. Without them it would have been enough to break
me."
Donna returned to hospital later that day - and said the social services'
attitude suddenly changed.
They allowed her to be alone with Bonita - and the tot was finally discharged
when the scan revealed she had a naturally misshapen skull.
Donna said: "I had so many emotions running through me - joy, relief,
excitement at having my baby back.
"But at the same time I felt angry that this had been allowed to happen."
Bonita has now been assigned a social worker, who will make regular checks
even though her mum has been cleared of any wrong-doing.
Donna stormed: "It makes me feel sick the way we were treated. I won't forget
this in a million years. Hospitals should be a safe place to go, not somewhere
you fear. Now I shall always be scared of them."
A Queen Mother Hospital spokesman said: "The injury was not normally
associated with accidental damage to a child only two months old.
"We regret any distress our action may have caused but policies exist to
safeguard the welfare of children."
Police said: "Officers attended an address in Ramsgate after the hospital
reported an injury to a baby.
They investigated thoroughly before confirming no further action will be
taken."
Social services refused to discuss individual cases but added: "It's standard
practice following a multi-agency investigation to undertake a full assessment
to ascertain what level of support may be needed."
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