NON ACCIDENTAL INJURY (NAI)
Non Accidental Injury (NAI) is a term used by medical and legal professionals when a child is presented at hospital with an injury for which the parents are unable to provide a satisfactory explanation. As a result, professionals suspect the injury may have been inflicted deliberately by a parent or care giver.
Medical professionals are duty bound to report such cases children’s social services, who may then seek the Court’s permission to remove the children from their parent’s care. If parents are approached by social services in such circumstances, legal advice should be sought urgently.
Non-Accidental Injuries can present in various different forms, for example bruising or lacerations to the skin, or more seriously fractured bones and head-injures, sometimes referred to as “shaken baby syndrome”.
NAI is a very specialist area of children public law, so it is important you instruct someone such as ourselves who have the particular experience of assisting parents under such circumstances. If you have been approached by social services, get in touch with us at the earliest opportunity, even if it is outside of working hours or at the weekend. We can assist with your case nationally; we do not need to be local to you but it is very important you engage a solicitor quickly.
Some common types of non-accidental injury include:
-Head injury – this can be from a drop or being hit, or by vigorous shaking (known as shaken baby syndrome), and can include fractures to the skull and brain injuries
-External injuries, such as bruises, bites burns
-Bone breaks such as fractures.
-Fabricated or induced illnesses, including poisoning
Whilst sometimes these injuries are deliberately inflicted, sometimes there can be other explanations, such as:
-Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a genetic connective tissue disorder which may cause a child to bruise or bleed easily
-Unknown causes including Sudden Infant -Death Syndrome (SIDS)
-Vitamin deficiencies, which can cause a predisposition to bleeding
-Medical Expert Evidence
Within the proceedings it will be essential to obtain independent expert medical evidence and it is vital to identify the correct experts who have experience in these cases. These experts include; radiologists, paediatricians, neuro-radiologists, haematologists, ophthalmologists, and geneticists. We work closely with experts on many NAI cases and have the specialist knowledge to ensure we identify the right experts.
Our Team has extensive experience in this type of case, and of working with experts to analyse the case and find out whether the evidence does or does not point towards abuse or NAI.
Criminal Investigation
If you have been accused of inflicting a non-accidental injury upon a child the police will often investigate and this may result in interview and sometimes arrest. At Daniel Woodman and Co we have specialist in-house criminal defence solicitors and police station representative who can will be able to represent you. We wok closely with our criminal team to ensure excellent representation in both the criminal and care proceedings.
You will need to contact our criminal team at Danielwoodman.co.uk
Barristers Representing you at Court
We work closely with senior barristers and King Counsel across England and Wales in NAI cases, it is essential that the right and most experienced barristers are identified to represent you at Court. We have close links with and experience of many the best barristers who specialise in NAI. The case will ultimately proceed to fact-find hearing, with cross examination of all the evidence and witnesses. This is complicated and specialist work and it is essential that you have the best representation passible.
It is really important that you urgently seek advice from an experienced solicitor who specialises in NAI as soon as possible. We can support you during this stressful and difficult time and ensure you have the best representation. Call us urgently on the following numbers to speak to a solicitor, we are here to help you:-
Ruth Slader (Head of Family Team) Ruth.Slader@danielwoodman.co.uk
Rachael Heale (solicitor) Rachael.Heale@danielwoodman.co.uk
Rebecca Cook (solicitor) Rebecca.Cook@danielwoodman.co.uk
You do not need a local solicitor, it is more important that you are represented by a specialist in this area of law, we represent clients throughout England and Wales
Step-by-Step Care Proceedings
STEP 1
If the local authority (social services) believe that your child is suffering harm, whether that be physical or emotional, they may decide to commence care proceedings to ensure the child's safety. Firstly, the local authority will explore options to keep the child within the family via a Child in Need or a Child Protection Plan process. This is unless the level of risk is that in which the court’s involvement is required from the outset.
STEP 2
If the level of risk is too high, or the local authority’s efforts have failed, then parents will be invited to attend a Public Law Outline (PLO) meeting with their solicitors. This meeting will be initiated by way of a letter, at which point you must contact us (this will cost parents nothing). An agreement will need be reached by all parties and then put in writing, known as a schedule of expectations (SoE). The terms of the SoE will be monitored over time.
STEP 3
If an agreement is not reached or the parents failed to follow it, then the local authority may ask the court to take your child into care. As such, care proceedings will be issued at a Family Court (in other words you will be taken to court). In that instance, the child will be appointed a children’s guardian who will act in the child’s interest by representing their wishes and feelings. The guardian will also be able to appoint a solicitor to act on behalf of the child.
STEP 4
There will be multiple hearings in which the court will try to get all the information available in order to make a decision. In order to that decision a Judge may order for example, assessments on you and those that might gain care of the child and reports from doctors/other experts. The first hearing will involve the court deciding where the child should live whilst proceedings are taking place, this decision will be made after the court has listened to all the involved parties.
STEP 5
Once all information is received including reports and assessments, the Judge will look at all the evidence and decide from the starting point that child should remain with their family. Where that is not possible, other options such as placement with family members, foster care or adoption will be considered. Ordinarily, this process from the day proceedings are issued (i.e. the day you are told you are going to court) will last up to 26 weeks. However, in complex cases, for example if more experts are required, this time frame maybe extended.
Childcare law updates
Up until recently, reporters/the media had restrictions put in place during proceedings in the family courts in order to protect the children and families involved from unwanted publicity in often very sensitive situations. The Family Court Reporting Pilot now allows accredited media and legal bloggers to report on what they hear during family Court cases while keeping to strict rules of anonymity.
This started at the end of January 2023 with allowing reporting in public law cases only, in Leeds, Cardiff and Carlisle. This later extended to include most of the Family Courts but was still limited to public law cases with the aim of improving transparency in the Family Court justice system. As of 12th of May 2023 the pilot has again extended to include private law.
The Court has kept some discretion with what can and cannot be reported through the use of Transparency Orders (TO). TOs restrict what a pilot reporter can report, this ensures that the necessary levels of transparency can still be achieved.
In the latest reporting pilot launched by the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, journalists and legal bloggers are able to report on financial remedies proceedings in the Financial Remedies Court (FRC) at three courts from 29 January 2024.
President's Guidance on the Reporting Pilot (RP) in full – it is available online. However, it is useful to note the President's guidance that,
The Court may depart from the transparency principle in any case. In deciding whether to restrict reporting, the Court must ensure the rights of the family and parties to a fair trial and must balance the rights to a private and family life under, and the rights of the press, public and parties (or any other relevant rights which may be engaged).
CASE:
Re: BR and others (Transparency Order: Finding of Fact Hearing 2023 EWFC 9
Interim Care Orders
Once proceedings have been issued, one of the first decisions likely to be made by the court is whether the child should stay in the care of their parents or not until a final decision is reached. This decision is enforced via a court order referred to as an interim care order (ICO).
The law states that:
The court shall not make an ICO unless it is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the child concerned is suffering, or is likely to suffer, significant harm; and that the harm, or likelihood of harm, is attributable to the care given to the child, or likely to be given to him if the order were not made, not being what it would be reasonable to expect a parent to give to him.
“Likely” in this case is taken to mean that there is a "real possibility" of the happening of significant harm. The court in such a case must make an assessment of the likelihood of future significant harm and in doing so will invariably have to rely on past facts.
In order for the court to make decision it must be satisfied that the Local Authority has a strong case for proving that, unless there is an intervention, there is a real possibility that the child will suffer significant harm at the hands of his or her parent(s). And where the purpose of the ICO is to effect an immediate removal of a newly born baby from its mother's care there are additional requirements that will need to be met namely whether it would be necessary and proportionate (Re C (A Child : Interim Separation) [2019] EWCA Civ 1998).
In the case of Ellie (An Infant: Interim Care Order) [2023] EWFC 27 it was clear that there was a horrific back story which unquestionably provided reasonable grounds for believing that there is a real possibility that Ellie would suffer significant harm if an order were not made. However, the parents have made significant changes and had taken the steps to demonstrate that their past misconduct is now firmly in the past.
In making a decision, the Judge had to consider whether it would be disproportionate given the steps to redemption the parents had made to enforce an ICO. It was concluded by the Judge that if the proposal was to place Ellie with a stranger with limited contact in favour of the parents, then I would have concluded that the measure was disproportionate and that the interference with the parents' and Ellie's right to a family life would not have been justified. However, Ellie was placed with her aunt and grandmother and was living under the same roof as her siblings. Her parents would be able to see her daily. And therefore, in such circumstances the Judge was satisfied that the measure is proportionate.
Planning together for children course
On the 3rd of April 2023, CAFCASS launched a new course and set of resources for parents to help them think about how to prioritise their children’s needs while they are separating. Planning Together for Children combines e-learning, group work and online support for parents involved in private law family court proceedings. It replaces the Separated Parents Information Programme (SPIP).
When parents separate, the risk to a deterioration in their child’s emotional wellbeing and mental health increases significantly if the separation involves a high level of conflict. This can be exacerbated by the anxiety and uncertainty caused by lengthy family court proceedings. In some cases, the damage this causes to children can last for a long time. Planning Together for Children encourages parents to consider how they can communicate and work together to agree parenting arrangements without the need for more court hearings and to understand how disagreements and arguments can worry their children and impact on their wellbeing and development. It was designed with input from children and families. The new programme aims to reduce the time families spend in family court proceedings and to lower the number of families returning to court.
Planning Together for Children is for families in private law family court proceedings and can either be ordered by a court or referred by a Cafcass Family Court Adviser at any stage of proceedings as long as the right risk assessment is in place and there is no known risk of harm to any children involved. It was co-designed with children and parents following an extensive review and the learning materials have been developed in collaboration with Family Justice Young People’s Board members and the Cafcass Family Forum.