Couple falsely accused of child abuse go to court to try to get their family back

LAURA COLLINS

Anguished couple Mark and Nicky Webster will this week embark on legal action to overturn a care order that led to the forcible adoption of their three children four years ago.

The Websters have instructed their solicitor to apply for leave to appeal against the order obtained by Norfolk County Council on the strength of false allegations of child abuse in May 2004.

If successful, it could open the door to a reversal of the adoptions that tore their family apart.

Last night Nicky, 27, said: "Our appeal will be done in three stages. The first is to appeal against the original findings of abuse - that would clear our names.

"After that there could be no legal justification for the children's adoption but we've been told we would have to go through the process of appealing against the Freeing Order [the term for the parents' agreement to the adoption] and then against the adoption orders."

The children, who can be known only as A, B and C, were all under five when they were adopted.

The decision was made behind closed doors in the Family Court in a hearing lasting one day.

It relied almost entirely on now discredited medical evidence that a fracture sustained by B could have been caused only by violent twisting or shaking.

It has since been shown that the fracture was a result of bones weakened by a lack of vitamins.

Last year, the council withdrew its application for a care order for the Websters' fourth child, Brandon, now 21 months.

The Websters have now learned they have won legal aid to fund their fight to reunite the rest of their family.

George Hawks, the lawyer who was instrumental in bringing the Websters' case to light, said: "This allows them to approach the Court of Appeal for the previous findings of abuse to be overturned and that opens the door to look at the adoption issue again."

The Websters are determined that will be the outcome.

Last night Mark, 35, said: "We had thought in terms of getting some sort of access to the children.

"But now we've been told we've actually got more chance of reversing it altogether."

And Nicky added: "We want the children to know we did nothing wrong.

"We owe it to them to do this. If they seek us out in years to come and they feel we just stopped trying, they might ask, 'Why didn't you fight harder for me?'

"I want to show that we've tried everything, gone down every avenue."