I Want My Baby Back Panorama


I Want My Baby Back

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These parents have all lost their children because they have been

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condemned as child abusers. But they say they are innocent. Did you ever

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harm your baby girl? No. No, I would never harm her. Their babies were

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taken after tiny fractures were spotted on X-rays. Doctors say they

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are evidence of abuse. It is a case of if you didn't do it your partner

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must have done, and you must have known your partner did because you

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were in the house at the time. The authorities are on high alert after

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missing shocking cases like baby P and Daniel Pelka, but are they now

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going too far. Is it possible that parents have lost their children for

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good by mistake? Of course it is possible. One campaigning MP even

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said parents should flee the country rather than face justice in our

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family courts. Because people don't face a fair trial here, my advice to

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people if they can afford it to go abroad. Some of done that and now

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they are numbers on the run. Sometimes I wish I didn't have to

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live like this I wouldn't give him up for the world. Others have stayed

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and seen their lives destroyed. He's got a family here that love and

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adore him that have never done a thing wrong to him but yet we are

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being torn apart. But the fractures could have other causes, including a

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disease we thought we had beaten long ago. Some parents have proved

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their innocence, and had their children returned. It was like a

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nightmare that you don't ever seem to be able to wake up from. So are

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medical mistakes and flawed child protection system shattering

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innocent lives? I couldn't believe that this actually still happened in

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England. I didn't think it could happen in England.

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In April 2012 Jules graves birth to a beautiful boy. It should have been

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a happy occasion, but there wasn't much to celebrate. Now he's here we

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don't know what's going to happen. I had to give my passport and

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everything over so they would let me leave the hospital, but everything

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seems all right so far. I haven't heard anything from social services

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yet. But just the waiting game really. Jill is a fugutive, her son

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Loac was born hundreds of miles from home in a remote part of Spain.

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British Association services have been searching for him from birth.

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You are so tired aren't you? Her husband John had to travel in secret

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from England to visit his new baby boy. Social workers tried

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everything, even contacting Interpol to try to track them down. I had a

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phone call from my aunt, apparently social services have been round her

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house searching for her. I also found they have been to my parents'

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house snooping around trying to find out where they are. We are basically

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waiting to see now what they are going to do next. Social services

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don't trust John and Jill as parents. They think they are child

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abusers. It is June 2012 and I'm on my way to meet Jill. I have been

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given directions to go to a town about two hours from here, once

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there sit tight and wait for further instructions. I don't know where

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Jill and Loac are living right now, that is a necessary precaution. Jill

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has called me with directions to a safe house, it is not where she

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lives. Her parents - bee and Gareth are here helping her. Jill is

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enjoying getting to know her son, but she never feels sure. I never

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imagined my life being like this at all, it is hard to leave the country

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you have grown up in. I didn't really want to leave. But I wasn't

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going to have my second baby taken by them. By social services. Jill's

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first child Aylssa was taken into care in May 2010, she was just ten

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weeks old. The family's problems started when they noticed a swelling

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on her arm and took her to the GP. The doctor checked her over, said

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that she didn't seem in any pain, but she referred me to the hospital.

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They sent us for X-rays, and said that Aylssa had a trackure to her

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arm and asked me how -- a fracture to her arm and asked me how it

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happened. Further X-rays found three more fractures, one on each leg and

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one on her ribs. Jill couldn't explain them, so doctors thought

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Aylssa had been abused X-rays found three more fractures, one on each

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leg and one on her ribs. Jill couldn't explain them, so doctors

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thought Aylssa had been abused. Did you ever harm your baby girl? No I

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would never harm her. Did you ever see John harm your baby girl? If I

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had seen John do anything to harm her in any way or distress her I

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wouldn't have wanted him to be around her, I wouldn't have let him

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be around her. Doctors called in social workers from Wokingham

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Borough Council and Aylssa was taken into care, even though Jill's mum

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offered to look after the baby. I wasn't given that option. I was

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told, no. It is because I would not say that my daughter had harmed her

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daughter. Because I knew she couldn't. So a parent is worried

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their child is hurt, they do the right thing, they bring the child to

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hospital, but if they can't explain fractures on an X-ray they are

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suspected of abuse and may have to leave without their child. They have

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now entered the world of child protection. Sarah and Paul Ashley's

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son was taken into care in 2009, when he was a few weeks old. He's a

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good-looking boy, is that you? Their problems started when they noticed

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their baby's right leg was swollen. We just thought there was something

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wrong with our little boy and we did what any normal parents would do,

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take them to the hospital. But X-rays showed multiple fractures to

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the baby's legs and ribs. When Sarah and Paul couldn't explain them,

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doctors assumed the worse. -- worst. Social workers took their baby away.

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Having to go from being a mum, and being there constantly for him and

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to then being told I can't hold him or be with him, it was just

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horrendous. We were told that he wasn't coming home with us, so we

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knew that whenever he left the hospital it wouldn't be with us, it

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would be with someone else. But... It was difficult... Yeah. Everyone

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agrees that protecting children from abuse is critically important. Local

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authorities have the duty to investigate suspected cases and put

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the welfare of the child first. They know that failing to take children

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into care can have devastating consequences. Social workers have

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come under massive pressure in the past when they have missed terrible

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cases of child abuse like Baby P. But it is fear of getting it wrong,

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is that leading to the opposite mistake? Some parents accused of

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child abuse may be innocent. Since Baby P, the number of care cases has

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risen dramatically, the last annual figures show more than 10 thousand

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care application, a record high. Authorities say more children are

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being protected. We can't play poker with children's safety, we have to

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have a system that plays safe to begin with, does the work properly

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to assess the level of risk, if we have got it wrong we have to show

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the evidence to do that and to return a child home safely, but too

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many children, historically, have suffered serious harm again back at

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home it wrong we have to show the evidence to do that and to return a

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child home safely, but too many children, historically, have

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suffered serious harm again back at home. Parents' rights are not the

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priority in these cases. The local authority has a duty to protect

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children in its area and it also has a great big establishment to help

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that to happen. Social workers, its zone lawyers, significant resources

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compared to parents. It can seem to parents as if there is this great

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juggernaut rolling over them. Sarah and Paul's son has been in poster

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care for four years, he has had three different foster families. So

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this is his room for when he comes home. They haven't given up on

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getting him back. His favourite Tigger, bless him, the battery is

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nearly dieing. But he loved pressing that. They have searched desperately

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for any innocent explanation for his injuries, but so far they haven't

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found one that convinces the experts or authorities. You say you didn't

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cause his injuries, is that true? We never caused his injuries. I didn't

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and Sarah didn't. We know each other much better than that. There has to

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be a medical explanation for this. You don't know, do you? No. We

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don't. We're not medical experts but it doesn't add up does it. It just

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doesn't add up at all. You don't go from being a good person one day to

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being a really bad person the other day. Paul and Sarah can't explain

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the cause of the fractures, so they can't be a mum and dad. Bone

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fractures sound simple and straight forward, but they are not. When you

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think of a fracture, you think of a clean break. But in these cases,

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many of the fractures are not like that at all. They are tiny cracks

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which are often very difficult to detect. On this X-ray they are here,

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unless parents can explain the cause, doctors almost always take

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fractures as evidence of abuse. The reason for that as far as I can see

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is that it is difficult to find other causes quit a lot of the time.

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Most fractures in children occur result of physical trauma, usually

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as a result of them falling over and hurting themselves when they are

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older. To get multiple fractures, as an infant, where's that physical

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trauma come from is a reasonable question. Lisa's another parent who

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was asked that question. She had heard a strange clicking noise from

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her baby's chest, but when X-rays showed fractures her days as a

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mother were numbered. I don't know what was going to happen. I was

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totally unprepared for it. And it is obviously turned my world

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upsidedown. Lisa brought me to the hospital where social workers took

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her baby. What was it like the moment you left? Heart-breaking. To

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leave my son on the bed and walk away while the foster carer and the

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social worker picked him up and left with him. Now Lisa sees her child

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just twice a year. Did you harm your baby? No. You would say that though

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wouldn't you? Definitely not, I wouldn't be going through this now

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just to save face, just to you know cover it up. Lisa says the strain of

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the investigation wrecked her relationship with her child's

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father. It was case if you didn't do it your partner must have done, and

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you must have known your partner did because you were in the house at the

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time. It felt like they were playing us off against each other. The tight

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restrictions around family court cases make it difficult for us to

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investigate all the evidence. But we know that once fractures are found

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parents feel under huge pressure to admit abuse. If you are denying

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having done something when there is, on the face of t medical and other

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evidence to suggest that you did do something, oddly enough you will

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often do better if you admit it, even if you haven't done it. Because

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then you are seen to be co-operative. John is not with his

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wife Jill in Spain, because he says, under that pressure he made a

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disastrous mistake. He says he lied to the authorities, making up ways

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he may have accidentally hurt Aylssa. He thought Jill would be

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able to keep the baby if he took the blame. I just had a gut feeling at

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that point that yeah we were going to lose him and I had to come up

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with something from that moment, I had to protect Jill and Aylssa. Why

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did you lie? I couldn't have Jill losing Aylssa. That is the thing

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that killed me the most and has hurt me the most over time. Working ham

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council -- Wokingham Council deny putting pressure on the couple and

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said John made the admission early in a police interview. Although John

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was never charged, he stayed behind after Jill fled, hoping that would

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keep her safe. He now says lying was a stupid thing to do but that he was

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desperate. The system, critics say, demands a confession, or else you

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lose the baby. But the moment you confess to abuse you lose the baby.

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But innocent parents find a lose, lose situation. One MP has been

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contacted by hundreds of parents going through the family courts.

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Hello John, hi. Welcome to parliament. He says the process is

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so unfair, rather than face justice here, parents should flee the

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country. Is the system loaded against parents? There is no

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question, all the cards are held by the local authority. The local

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authority has large resources to fight the cases, the local authority

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does all the assessments, so my advice to people if they can afford

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it is to go abroad. That is wrong though isn't it, you are encouraging

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people to leave the country because of social services, surely that's

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wrong? I need to be honest to people and say the system does a lot of

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damage to children in this country. You can't get a fair trial here,

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because you can't get a fair trial here, because you can't rely on the

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evidence being fair, it is best simply to go. If you can, at the

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time, lawfully. I do think we have a responsibility to make our family

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courts better, to make them more transparent, to build public

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confidence in them. And to advocate leaving them all together doesn't

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solve the problem for the vast majority of children and parents who

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need our courts to be as good as they possibly can be.

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All of these cases begin with a medical presumption that unexplained

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fractures equal abuse. But that presumption is now being challenged,

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the turning point was the death of this baby, Jayden Ray, his X-rays

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were examined by four doctors before he died. They identified multiple

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fractures and concluded that Jayden had been violently abused. But a

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post mortem proved them wrong. The pathologist noticed something

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strange about Jayden's bones straight away. Now in a

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four-and-a-half-month-old baby I shouldn't be able to break their rib

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with my hands, it should be much, much stronger, in this case it broke

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very easily. Also the bone at the back of the head was so thin, paper

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thin and brittle that it also broke. X-rays are just images, but the

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doctor was able to look at the real thing, Jayden's bones, under the

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microscope. She discovered he had a condition thought to be a thing of

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the past, rickets. His vitamin D levels were low, and other bone

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markers indicated he had rickets. When I tested the mother the mother

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also had low vitamin D. Which means this baby had low vitamin D since

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before birth. The doctor's findings showed there was an innocent

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explanation for the fractures. The parents were cleared of murder, but

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the verdict has wider implications. The case matters because it shows

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that doctors diagnosing child abuse from X-rays can get it horribly

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wrong. Rickets was once widespread in Britain. Found alongside poverty,

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and poor nutrition. It is caused by a severe deficiency of vitamin D. It

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is the failure of the bone that is being made within the bone to

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mineralise and become properly hard. So you have got lots of little

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patches of softness in there, and that allows the bones to bend. Weak

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bones? Bones that are soft and have bent as a result of being soft, yes.

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Rickets used to be treated by sun lamps, because the best source of

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vitamin D is sunshine. The ultraviolet, the suntan rays produce

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the help-giving vitamin D. The part played by the sun's rays is shown on

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this graph, you will notice as the hours of sunshine rise, the death

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rates sinks. The disease disappeared for decades but now vitamin D

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deficiency and rickets are back, and one cause is simple. We get most of

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our vitamin D from sunlight, but fear of skin cancer means people may

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have overcompensated, aid voiding the sun and using -- avoiding the

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one and using sun block. And now most of us don't get enough vitamin

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D, including children and pregnant mums. The deficiency in vitamin D is

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widespread it could affect Ninkovich. Could low vitamin D lead

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to weaker bones before it becomes an obvious case of rickets. On this

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controversial science the doctors don't agree. On the skeltal side of

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things, we don't have any evidence at the present time that a low

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vitamin D level of itself increases your risk of fracture. But the data

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hasn't been collected in a systematic way. There is, as with

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many things in medicine, an appreciation now that the complexity

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of what we are dealing with is greater than perhaps what we had

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anticipated in the past. Low vitamin D by itself may not lead to

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fractures, but some doctors believe it is a warning side that bones may

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be abnormal. The logical thing would be that before you get to the very

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fragile bones you havecmy fragile bones and normal bones, you don't go

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from this point to this without nothing in the middle. It is

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something that happens over time. We don't know at what point the changes

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are so significant that you are more prone to fractures. The problem is

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it is difficult for doctors to carry out research in studies of infant

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bones, for fear of hurting babies. But one recent study looked at the

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post mortems of babies with low vitamin D. When doctors just looked

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at X-rays they spotted bone abnormalities in 19% of the babies.

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Under the microscope doctors found bone abnormalities in 69%. We were

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looking at the bone at 600-times magnification, we were able to see

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the bone, the culls -- calcium. That is why the microscopic examination

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of the tissue is ahead of radiology. The sample was small but the study

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proves a crucial point, X-rays can't always detect abnormalities in a

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child's bones. It has been said and accepted by some radiologists in

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cross-examination that it is almost as much an art as a science. Because

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you are looking at very, very slight changes on pictures of X-rays and

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interpreting from your experience. So it is not like putting something

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in a test-tube and seeing if it turns pink or blue, it is a very

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different thing. Challenging traditional thinking on X-rays and

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fractures is not easy. I'm not saying that every child with a

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fracture has a vitamin D deficiency. I have had cases in the family court

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where I said so, that is certainly not all of cases of a baby with

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fractures will be child abuse. The grey cases in the middle are the

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really difficult ones. Jill, the mum on the run in Spain lost her

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daughter after doctors found fractures on X-rays. But they might

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not have been caused by abuse. A blood test showed that Aylssa had

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very low levels of vitamin D. It was a small blood sample and so the test

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should have been repeated, yet her vitamin D levels appeared so low

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that doctors began treating her with calcium-boosting medicine. But Jill

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and John were kept in the dark about their baby's condition for weeks,

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they were not told that baby Aylssa was being treated for vitamin D

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deficiency, and all of this time, because of the X-rays, they were

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being accused of child abuse. Has anybody explained to you that might

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be a reason why your baby has got fractures? No. It was swept under

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the carpet. That wasn't the reason at all. I had e-mailed loads of

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information that I had found on vitamin D deficiency, rickets, to my

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solicitor, I was told that we weren't allowed to use that, it was

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like we were making an excuse for how, for the injuries. Aylssa's case

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went to the family court, where strict rules keeps the families from

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out. Guilty beyond reasonable doubt doesn't apply, it is based on

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probabilities, the explanation that is most likely to be true. It was a

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total nightmare. You can't prove your innocence against them. They

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don't allow you to prove their innocence. I couldn't believe that

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this actually still happened in England. I didn't think it could

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happen in England. Ultimately the judge decided that John had

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deliberately hurt the baby and that Jill must have known. Jill and her

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family refused to accept the ruling. And that was held against them. All

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they kept on about that I was lying, and that I knew far more than what I

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had said. I wasn't fit to be around Aylssa. Because I didn't agree that

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I knew more, like they were saying, then that was why I wasn't allowed

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to have Aylssa home, because I wasn't safe to be around her.

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Wokingham council says the couple were told about Aylssa's medical

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results in good time. They say if Jill had separated from John then

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the ultimate welfare decision might have been different. Aylssa's case

:26:54.:27:01.

was heard at a time when it was hard to challenge medical evidence on

:27:02.:27:06.

fractures. But the Jayden Ray case changed things. In every case I have

:27:07.:27:13.

had since Jayden Ray, where there is a fracture, the first question asked

:27:14.:27:17.

is, what were the vitamin D levels and is there a problem. Is it

:27:18.:27:21.

possible that category of parents who had this set of problems before

:27:22.:27:26.

Jayden Ray have lost their children for good by mistake. Of course it is

:27:27.:27:36.

possible. Sarah has low vitamin D after the birth of her son. But at

:27:37.:27:40.

that critical time her baby was not tested. Lots of love with mummy. She

:27:41.:27:49.

believes there was a medical explanation for his fractures that

:27:50.:27:54.

wasn't found. But now four years on it is impossible to prove. Sarah and

:27:55.:28:00.

Paul are still allowed to see their son, because he hasn't been adopted.

:28:01.:28:09.

They get just four contact visits a year, today is one of them. Sarah's

:28:10.:28:17.

parents are going along to see their grandson too. The visit will last

:28:18.:28:27.

just one hour and every second will be supervised by social workers. The

:28:28.:28:44.

time after seeing their boy is the hardest.

:28:45.:28:58.

From my little boy. It is now another three months to wait and

:28:59.:29:12.

hope and pray, just that waiting game. It is. It is so hard after he

:29:13.:29:18.

has been so happy with us, for that hour, and it was so good, and then

:29:19.:29:22.

just as we told him he had to put his coat on to leave he came up and

:29:23.:29:28.

put his arms around me and said sorry mummy. What's going through

:29:29.:29:32.

his mind. Does he think that it's his fault that he's not with his

:29:33.:29:36.

mummy and daddy. It's so heart-breaking to leave him. If

:29:37.:29:48.

their son is adopted they lose the right to see him ever again. You

:29:49.:29:55.

dread the phone ringing thinking that you are going to get that phone

:29:56.:29:58.

call from social services to say that they have found somebody. And

:29:59.:30:09.

to think that we won't be part of his life and that he will grow up

:30:10.:30:25.

without us is heart-breaking. It is difficult, because you have two

:30:26.:30:32.

innocent parents fighting for their son and you never think it could

:30:33.:30:37.

ever get to this. It is difficult, it really is. But we keep fighting.

:30:38.:30:45.

We won't give up, will we? No. Many parents whose children have

:30:46.:31:05.

been taken have turned to Sophie Palmer, she's a campaigner who

:31:06.:31:10.

trained as a paralegal to help parents in the family courts. She

:31:11.:31:13.

has been supporting Jill, the mum on the run in Spain. When Sophie looked

:31:14.:31:20.

at evidence from Jill's original hearing, she was shocked. It

:31:21.:31:23.

appeared that the medical experts had not been adequately challenged

:31:24.:31:28.

and may even have got important things wrong. I just thought it

:31:29.:31:34.

doesn't add up. This is a two-month-old baby with a, with

:31:35.:31:39.

perfectly decent parents, why would they just turn on their childlike

:31:40.:31:45.

this. When she -- child, like this. When she told me the child's vitamin

:31:46.:31:52.

D level was so severe, how can they treat it as insignificant. Sophie

:31:53.:31:56.

asked for an appeal for Jill. Which meant some of the evidence from the

:31:57.:31:58.

first hearing was finally made public. Radiologist Dr John Summer's

:31:59.:32:05.

said Aylssa's evidence showed no evidence of rickets so that couldn't

:32:06.:32:09.

be a cause of her injuries. We now know that logic is wrong. Cases like

:32:10.:32:15.

Jayden Ray has shown that rickets is not always clear on X-rays.

:32:16.:32:20.

Paediatrician Dr Patricia Kenny said Aylssa's blood tests were normal and

:32:21.:32:25.

she did not have vitamin D deficiency, both wrong. Dr Kenny

:32:26.:32:30.

also claimed infants of white breast-feeding mothers are not at

:32:31.:32:34.

risk of vitamin D deficiency. Really? It is possible for a white,

:32:35.:32:40.

Caucasian baby to develop rickets. And I can give you a personal

:32:41.:32:45.

example, my son was on the way to developing rickets, my wife was

:32:46.:32:48.

breast-feeding him. And gradually we noticed the edge of his rib cage was

:32:49.:32:53.

beginning to look slightly odd and turning up slightly. That is one of

:32:54.:32:57.

the signs you can see when bone is soft like rickets. And when her

:32:58.:33:01.

vitamin D and his vitamin D was measured they were both very low. It

:33:02.:33:06.

can happen to Ninkovich. The contrary, for example, it can't

:33:07.:33:11.

happen to a white baby that's being breast fed, is that true? Clearly

:33:12.:33:23.

not. , it can't happen to a white baby that's being breast fed, is

:33:24.:33:25.

that true? Clearly not. The Dr Stands by his statement on X-ray,

:33:26.:33:29.

both he and Dr Kenny say they can't comment on the details of the case

:33:30.:33:33.

because of family court rules. Jill and John were refused permission to

:33:34.:33:39.

appeal. Aylssa was adopted and that can never be overturned. It felt

:33:40.:33:46.

like a huge injustice. I was sitting next to Jill and of course she just

:33:47.:33:54.

burst into tears, she had hope up until that point. It was hard

:33:55.:34:00.

handing her over to the, knowing that I wasn't going to be able to

:34:01.:34:13.

see her again. How often do you think about her? All the time. I

:34:14.:34:21.

just wonder what she's doing now, if she's all right, if she's safe, if

:34:22.:34:35.

she remembers me. It's not the only case where parents believe the

:34:36.:34:39.

medical issues were not adequately explored. I stopped mentioning

:34:40.:34:46.

anything medical at a certain point because they weren't listening. I

:34:47.:34:50.

was made to feel like it was just making me look stupid and more

:34:51.:34:57.

guilty, if you like. Taking the, obviously the blame off of myself

:34:58.:35:03.

and putting it on to something that didn't exist, apparently. Lisa was

:35:04.:35:09.

anaemic during pregnancy and her vitamin D levels were so low that

:35:10.:35:15.

she's still on calcium boosters. Experts say vitamin D tests are

:35:16.:35:23.

vital in these cases. The best we can hope for is every child under

:35:24.:35:27.

the age of 1 that comes in with a fracture has a bone profile measured

:35:28.:35:35.

by a chemical test, the calcium alkaline, phosphate, vitamin D. That

:35:36.:35:38.

is the thing we would want to do now. But Lisa's baby didn't get the

:35:39.:35:46.

crucial test. The child now calls someone else mummy. It is

:35:47.:35:52.

heart-breaking, the first time I heard that was during a contact

:35:53.:36:00.

visit. And my automatic reaction was to go to him thinking he was

:36:01.:36:05.

referring to me. To see him then look around me and I was told it was

:36:06.:36:11.

just a word. There was nothing to get upset about. That word is

:36:12.:36:30.

"mummy". Yeah. Is it just a word? If S word that has a lot of meaning to

:36:31.:36:34.

it. It is a word I should have heard every day for the last four years.

:36:35.:36:50.

Amy got shocking news when her baby son was X-rayed, she had opened that

:36:51.:36:54.

would help doctors find out why he was so ill. Instead they showed

:36:55.:37:00.

multiple fractures. Blood tests showed baby Harrison had severe

:37:01.:37:05.

vitamin D deficiency, but doctors ruled out rickets because it wasn't

:37:06.:37:11.

visible on the X-rays. The doctor, a paediatrician came rushing into the

:37:12.:37:15.

room with three other staff members and the atmosphere had completely

:37:16.:37:21.

changed from there, she was vicious, really vicious, you have done

:37:22.:37:24.

something, you know, someone has abused this boy. You must have

:37:25.:37:30.

caused the fractures. I broke down in tears, I couldn't really say

:37:31.:37:36.

anything. Harrison and his sister were taken into care, but here Amy

:37:37.:37:41.

was unusually lucky, the judge placed them with Amy's mother. Once

:37:42.:37:46.

again the medical experts said that Harrison had been abused. Medical

:37:47.:37:53.

expert evidence is hugely important and can often be all be decisive.

:37:54.:37:57.

You have an expert saying this is a fracture, and I'm a top radiologist,

:37:58.:38:04.

it is difficult to get behind that without, again, very good lawyers,

:38:05.:38:10.

and if possible other expes in to challenge it. Family court experts

:38:11.:38:17.

are a small and select group, and some experts report on dozens of

:38:18.:38:24.

cases a year, it is lucrative work. The expert radiologist in Amy's case

:38:25.:38:34.

is a leading expert on X-rays. He has provided evidence in 2,000 cases

:38:35.:38:39.

of suspected child abuse. We can't name him because of secrecy around

:38:40.:38:44.

the family courts. In Amy's case he said Harrison's bones were radio

:38:45.:38:49.

logically normal, and ruled out the possibility that an illness could

:38:50.:38:52.

explain his injuries. The other expert agreed. That could have been

:38:53.:38:58.

the end of the line for Amy. She faced losing her children forever.

:38:59.:39:03.

Except for one crucial fact, Harrison continued to be ill. He

:39:04.:39:10.

would cry in agony, especially at nightime, he wouldn't be able to

:39:11.:39:15.

sleep properly, he would wake up 14-times a night. And you are not

:39:16.:39:22.

there. It is not you then it is sim. There is something wrong. -- it is

:39:23.:39:25.

him. There is something wrong. The court allowed Amy to appoint another

:39:26.:39:30.

expert, an expert in genetics who discovered the family had an unusual

:39:31.:39:34.

history of broken bones and fractures.

:39:35.:39:38.

He doesn't mess about, does he. Here he says "here I disagree completely

:39:39.:39:42.

that there is strong evidence that Harrison and certain other family

:39:43.:39:47.

members do have an inher rited defect of connective tissue with a

:39:48.:39:54.

susceptibility to fracture". How did you feel when you read that? Amazed

:39:55.:39:58.

that somebody was willing to actually stand up against these

:39:59.:40:03.

doctors. We're getting a diagnosis, we're getting the truth. The

:40:04.:40:10.

professor of genetics eventually convinced the court, Harrison was

:40:11.:40:14.

diagnosed and treated for rickets and a genetic bone disorder.

:40:15.:40:19.

Obviously things do happen, people do abuse their children, I'm not

:40:20.:40:23.

denying that. But at the same time they need to be being vigilent,

:40:24.:40:27.

because these conditions can go unnoticed. These conditions do exist

:40:28.:40:31.

and it is just as likely that these conditions are causing the fractures

:40:32.:40:38.

as it is the parents would be. The same radiologist was involved in

:40:39.:40:43.

another fracture case where the judge felt the experts stated their

:40:44.:40:50.

conclusions too forcefully. "It could be that what has been stated

:40:51.:40:55.

so confidently by paediatric radiologists, as near certainty is,

:40:56.:41:00.

in reality, much less certain" the judge said. The radiologist told us

:41:01.:41:05.

that doctors had to put "the well being of the child first", however

:41:06.:41:08.

distressing this may be to the parents. And that his role is to

:41:09.:41:13.

convey what his experience has been and what the published literature

:41:14.:41:19.

concludes. His name must remain a secret. Back in Spain Jill's been

:41:20.:41:31.

living in hiding for ten months now. But a Spanish police officer has

:41:32.:41:37.

turned up asking questions. Jill is terrified that the UK authorities

:41:38.:41:40.

have found her and are planning to seize her child. I head for a town

:41:41.:41:47.

on the coast to meet her and her parents Debbie and Gareth. This is a

:41:48.:41:50.

rare outing for them. They are frayed to leave the house and now

:41:51.:41:58.

don't go anywhere without Loac. The other day we came back home and

:41:59.:42:04.

there was a police officer coming down towards our house. He wanted

:42:05.:42:09.

mine and John's passport numbers. We have never had Ninkovich come before

:42:10.:42:15.

for passport numbers. What were you thinking at that moment? What would

:42:16.:42:20.

I do if Ninkovich came in and tried to take him from meumbers. What were

:42:21.:42:32.

you thinking at that moment? What would I do if anyone came in and

:42:33.:42:35.

tried to take him from me. What would you have done? Not let go of

:42:36.:42:38.

him. The Spanish police said it was routine, but Jill is worried they

:42:39.:42:49.

will be back? How scared scared am I, very scared. They are vigilent

:42:50.:42:53.

now about the authorities? We keep an eye on cars behind us. We take

:42:54.:42:58.

different routes. Wing mirrors, if we go somewhere a different route

:42:59.:43:03.

back. They are not getting their hand on this one. Sometimes I think

:43:04.:43:09.

I wish I didn't have to live life like this, but I wouldn't give up

:43:10.:43:16.

Loac for the world. The council admits using Interpol to try to find

:43:17.:43:21.

Jill, it said it would be irresponsible not to, as it has a

:43:22.:43:29.

duty to safeguard children. When Loac reaches his first birthday Jill

:43:30.:43:33.

can apply for him to become a Spanish citizen. Until then she

:43:34.:43:41.

remains a mum on the run. I have nightmares that I just, well

:43:42.:43:47.

mainly of Aylssa being taken from me, and people saying, ripping her

:43:48.:43:55.

away from me, saying that I can't see her. I have some... Just that

:43:56.:44:05.

something has happened to her and she's not still alive. I'm never

:44:06.:44:08.

going to see her again. In Bristol Amy now gets to enjoy the

:44:09.:44:41.

simple things in a child's life. After Harrison's genetic disease was

:44:42.:44:45.

diagnosed, social services dropped the case. Amy was finally able to

:44:46.:44:55.

bring her children home. How did that feel? Incredible. Absolutely

:44:56.:45:01.

amazing. We weren't even aware it was going to happen. It happened

:45:02.:45:06.

because I phoned social services and they dropped in, oh by the way I

:45:07.:45:10.

suppose we better tell you that we are actually going to drop the case

:45:11.:45:15.

against you. I sort of fell to the floor and I had to, I was

:45:16.:45:22.

speechless, everyone staired at me and -- stared at me and asked I was

:45:23.:45:26.

I OK, I sat crying with the phone in my hand. South Gloucestershire

:45:27.:45:31.

council said they had to carry out a thorough investigation to ensure

:45:32.:45:36.

children are safeguards and they act on professional medical advice.

:45:37.:45:50.

However they regret the distress the investigation caused.

:45:51.:45:56.

Lisa still hopes her case could have a happy ending, she is giving up her

:45:57.:46:03.

flat to have money for an appeal. We moved here to have a fresh start. We

:46:04.:46:07.

only were here six months when our situation happened. She's moving in

:46:08.:46:11.

with her sister and taking on extra work. How much is an appeal going to

:46:12.:46:16.

cost, with the Court of Appeal? From what I know it is tens and tens of

:46:17.:46:21.

thousands, it is ?20,000, it depends what experts are used and how long

:46:22.:46:27.

it takes. It is going to mean working as many hours as I can and

:46:28.:46:34.

saving as many pennies as I can. But it won't be easy. Do you ever think

:46:35.:46:42.

about giving up? All the time. How do you get through that? Knowing

:46:43.:46:47.

that I haven't done anything wrong. I want the wrongs put right. I

:46:48.:46:53.

refuse to give in to the way I have been treated the last couple of

:46:54.:47:09.

years. Loac has just had his first birthday. That means Jill can apply

:47:10.:47:14.

for him to become a Spanish citizen. It is a big step because British

:47:15.:47:18.

Association workers may now discover where they live. Jill has agreed to

:47:19.:47:26.

let us film at her home for the first time. Dad, John, is travelling

:47:27.:47:34.

over from England to sign the paperwork. It has been nearly a year

:47:35.:47:42.

since he has seen his little boy. They both felt that Loac was safer

:47:43.:47:46.

from social services if John stayed in Britain. Hello, how are you

:47:47.:47:59.

doing. Hello soldier. No! Can I have a cuddle. Come here. You are a heavy

:48:00.:48:12.

boy aren't you. Loac only knows his dad from Skype. He's really chilled.

:48:13.:48:28.

Let's see what we are doing. That is where we were going. There is only

:48:29.:48:38.

so much I can expect, doesn't even know I'm his dad. John stayed in the

:48:39.:48:48.

UK in the hope that the authorities couldn't find Jill by tracking him.

:48:49.:48:55.

I found out that Interpol were looking for me and they contacted my

:48:56.:49:03.

mum asking where I was and if the baby was safe. So I did e-mail them

:49:04.:49:08.

and told them that he's fine. I sent a picture of him. Seeing Loac only

:49:09.:49:15.

reminds John how much he misses his daughter. Remember, he was never

:49:16.:49:26.

charged with harming Aylssa. He has now retracted his statement to the

:49:27.:49:30.

police about how he might have accidentally caused her injuries. I

:49:31.:49:36.

can't understand why we didn't get Aylssa back, I fully understand why

:49:37.:49:39.

they investigated her, but why the investigation went so cruel and

:49:40.:49:43.

twisted and such a witch-hunt just to take our daughter. That is what I

:49:44.:49:49.

don't understand. I love Loac to pieces but my main thing is Aylssa,

:49:50.:50:03.

that's the one that kills me. Today John and Jill are making Loac's

:50:04.:50:08.

application for Spanish citizenship. Jill's brother is along to

:50:09.:50:13.

translate. But they haven't brought Loac they are worried social workers

:50:14.:50:25.

could be waiting to take him. But there is no sign of trouble, and the

:50:26.:50:35.

application is in. Loac will soon be a Spanish citizen and his parents

:50:36.:50:48.

hope that will keep him safe. We haven't forgotten anything have we.

:50:49.:50:55.

I'm hoping not now. Back in the UK, Sarah and Paul's worst fear has come

:50:56.:51:00.

true, their little boy is going to be adopted. They have been told this

:51:01.:51:09.

will be their final contact. Are you ready? As ready as I will ever be.

:51:10.:51:17.

Sarah's parents are coming too, to see their grandson for the last

:51:18.:51:28.

time. Social workers have agreed to let them extra time. Today they get

:51:29.:51:32.

two hours with their son. They film their final visit. Do you want to

:51:33.:51:48.

sit down. The visit is over and the family are

:51:49.:52:14.

back home. You know we are here, you know that. I want my baby. I know

:52:15.:52:20.

you do my duck. I wish I could get him for you. Have I a good cry love.

:52:21.:52:38.

Adoption in the UK is irreversible, whatever happens now their son

:52:39.:52:45.

cannot be returned to them. It doesn't matter what we say. Of

:52:46.:52:49.

course it doesn't. These people they are a law unto themselves. They do

:52:50.:52:54.

what they want. They do what they want, they say what they want. From

:52:55.:52:59.

now until he's 18, the only connection Sarah and Paul can have

:53:00.:53:03.

with their son is through exchange of letters once a year. It is the

:53:04.:53:12.

same rule for his grandparents. You and his granddad will get a letter,

:53:13.:53:18.

she said. I just turned to her and I said, yeah, but I'm never going to

:53:19.:53:21.

see him again, I won't be alive when he gets to 18. I will never stop

:53:22.:53:27.

loving him, Paul, and if I'm not here I want you to tell him that.

:53:28.:53:31.

That me and his granddad will always love him. We know that. You know

:53:32.:53:37.

that. We love you both. We know you do. I don't know how they expect you

:53:38.:53:41.

to say goodbye to your child. You know. He's not dead, is he honestly,

:53:42.:53:48.

I really don't know. I don't care, wherever, if he's

:53:49.:54:09.

going and he's gone, wherever he's going, that family could never love

:54:10.:54:37.

him... Gibe darling. It's hard to overstate the loss of a child. I

:54:38.:54:44.

don't know anyone or I haven't met a client who wouldn't go to go to

:54:45.:54:50.

prison than lose their child. It is very difficult that we have a

:54:51.:54:52.

standard of proof because of the need to protect children which puts

:54:53.:55:03.

parents at that sort of risk. Given what is at stake, it is important

:55:04.:55:07.

the family courts don't get it wrong. To what scale do you think

:55:08.:55:10.

there is injustice in the family court system? One case is not

:55:11.:55:13.

acceptable, in the sense that we should have a system that picks up.

:55:14.:55:18.

When it gets to this level it is a tsunami of injustice. We don't know

:55:19.:55:22.

how many problem cases there are, the Government says reform of family

:55:23.:55:27.

justice is a critical priority. They want new standards for expert

:55:28.:55:32.

witnesses and better outcomes for children and families.

:55:33.:55:37.

One wronged parent is one parent too many, just as one child left without

:55:38.:55:43.

protection is one child too many. And each professional mistake that

:55:44.:55:47.

comes to light should drive us to have "zero tolerance" in the future.

:55:48.:55:51.

Even the judge now in charge of the family courts says that only the

:55:52.:55:56.

death penalty is more drastic than removing a child from the parents

:55:57.:56:06.

forever. He's committed to opening up the family courts. But in

:56:07.:56:09.

fracture cases judges will still rely heavily on medical experts.

:56:10.:56:15.

Mums like Amy know how powerful their opinions can be. She has had

:56:16.:56:21.

another little boy. But her family was almost torn apart. It was like a

:56:22.:56:30.

nightmare you don't seem to ever be able to wake up from. It is

:56:31.:56:35.

something that stays with you and niggles away at you even when it is

:56:36.:56:39.

gone. Even when it is finished. And yeah, it never goes away. In

:56:40.:56:46.

Harrison's case, the medical evidence was exhaustively

:56:47.:56:51.

investigated, but Amy can't forget the other parents who have lost

:56:52.:56:58.

their children forever. It will be over when they stop doing this to

:56:59.:57:03.

other people. When I can say that now people have learned this is

:57:04.:57:07.

happening and they are not going to carry on accusing innocent parents.

:57:08.:57:23.

Back in Spain, it is time for John to go home. He has agreed with Jill

:57:24.:57:27.

that it is better if he stays in the UK for now. I love you lots, be a

:57:28.:57:34.

good boy for mummy. I just have to think and keep Loac safe, and one

:57:35.:57:39.

day we will be back living together and be as a family again, just not

:57:40.:57:49.

yet. To be honest I'm not happy that my son has to be made a Spanish

:57:50.:57:58.

citizen. I think I should be able to live my life with my wife and my

:57:59.:58:02.

child in my home land, I don't think it is right we have to go through

:58:03.:58:05.

this process just to keep my son safe. To keep her little boy Jill

:58:06.:58:20.

has been forced to live on the run, because of the secrecy surrounding

:58:21.:58:24.

the family courts we don't know how many other cases there could be like

:58:25.:58:29.

her's. But we do know that many families still face losing their

:58:30.:58:36.

children forever if they can't explain tiny fractures on an X-ray.

:58:37.:58:48.

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