How the battle for baby Brandon unfolded

Mark and Nicky Webster first hit the headlines in May, when Mrs Webster was heavily pregnant with her fourth child.

They featured on BBC TV's Real Story, telling how their three older children had been forcibly adopted in 2004 after health professionals found that one of the youngsters had unexplained fractures.

Mr and Mrs Webster were at the time referred to by her maiden name Hardingham, because there were concerns that the publicity would lead to the identification of the other three children - known only as child A, B and C and settled with a new, permanent adoptive family.

Mrs Webster, 26, said the fractures were the result of brittle bone disease, which a number of her family suffer from.

But a genetic test to find out if she was a carrier of the condition proved inconclusive, raising doubts over whether she could have passed it on to her children.

Fearing their fourth child would also be taken away from them because of the previous allegations of abuse, they launched a "Save Our Baby" campaign, co-ordinated by Mrs Webster's brother, Wayne Hardingham.

They received nationwide publicity, and staged a public meeting at Cromer Country Club, with 100 people from their home town turning out to offer their support for the cause.

With time running out before the birth of her fourth child, and fearing he would also be taken away from them because of the original allegations, Mrs Webster fled to Ireland to escape from Norfolk County Council's children's services professionals.

She was joined in Ireland by her 33-year-old husband and other members of her family.

Mrs Webster said at the time: "Running was my last chance of keeping him. It feels horrible to be so far away from my family. But it is a sacrifice we are prepared to make."

Within days, on May 29, Mrs Webster gave birth to Brandon.

But the couple's dream of escaping from the scrutiny of child care professionals was immediately dashed, as Irish officials - having spoken to children's services staff in Norfolk - confined Mr and Mrs Webster and their baby in a room at the hospital to keep a close eye on them. Faced with the choice of a court hearing in Ireland or returning home to fight their corner on familiar territory, they agreed to return to Norfolk.

As soon as they reached England, a court hearing began at Norwich on June 10.

Judge Philip Curl agreed to the county council's request to send Mr and Mrs Webster to a residential assessment centre, where professionals could watch them 24 hours a day with their newborn son.

The judge also issued a blanket gagging order, which stopped any reporting of the ongoing saga by the media - and brought all coverage of the very public custody battle to a sudden halt.

No more was heard of Mr and Mrs Webster and Brandon as they spent four-and-a-half months at the residential assessment centre - until two days ago.

Then, in an unprecedented decision at the family division of the High Court in London, Mr Justice Munby agreed to the family's request to allow reporting of the saga.

The judge allowed the couple to be known by their real names - the Websters - so they could publicise their fight and continue to argue against what they claimed was a "miscarriage of justice".

He said Judge Curl's orders were "very drastic", and said: "It is important for public confidence in the system that both the resolution of the issue, and the way in which it has been resolved, should be known."

Not content with one legal bombshell, Mr Justice Munby continued yesterday at the latest hearing by becoming the first judge to allow the media to report a family court hearing.

At the hearing, where the judge allowed Mr and Mrs Webster to take Brandon home - albeit under close supervision - he also set a legal precedent by releasing to the press the details of the allegations made against the Websters in the adoption hearings for their three eldest children.

Next June, almost exactly a year since the couple became unlikely celebrities, a new judge at a final court hearing will decide once and for all whether Mr and Mrs Webster can keep little Brandon.