Couple get to take son home - for now

A Norfolk couple were today allowed to take their fourth child home - even though the court battle over his adoption continues.

Mark and Nicky Webster ran away to Ireland for tiny Brandon's birth in May, amid fears that Norfolk County Council would have him adopted - as it did their three other children.

Solicitors acting for Nicola and Mark Webster said after the High Court hearing that it was an important step and remarkable outcome for the couple.

Before today's hearing, the couple had been in an assessment centre with five-month-old Brandon.

They will now be allowed to look after their son at their home in Cromer, while the assessment by health professionals continues.

Mr Justice Munby, who yesterday made a ruling that the parents should be able to “tell their story” about what they claim is a “miscarriage of justice”, today also allowed the couple's lawyers to appoint medical experts to help prove they were innocent of abuse.

Depending on the findings of the experts, the parents will apply to reopen the proceedings which led to the three older children being adopted.

The judge has allowed the media to attend future care proceedings over the child whose final future will not be decided until a main hearing in June next year.

Sarah Harman, the solicitor acting for the couple, said in a statement read on the steps of the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand: “This is not a celebration. It is an important step forward for Nicola and Mark - they are being allowed to take Brandon back home pending final hearing in June.

“This is a remarkable outcome for them. They lost three children into adoption only two years ago after court findings that they abused one of their children causing fractures and neglected their children.

“It was the view of the court that the children were not safe in their care - nor with anyone in their large and close extended family.

“Nicola and Mark have always and will always deny any ill treatment.

“They love their three older children and think of them everyday. They don't intend to disrupt their placement. They do intend to do everything to get the evidence to clear their names.”

She said Mark, 33, and Nicola, 26, had spent four-and-a-half months under 24-hour supervision at the assessment centre and had undergone in-depth assessments by psychologists and psychiatrists.

“They have demonstrated that they are good and caring parents to Brandon and their care of him has been described as very good. They have shown as a couple that they have a close, loving and supportive relationship.

“They believe that had such investigations been undertaken in the previous proceedings, their three older children would still be at home.

“They regret that so much emphasis was placed on the evidence of experts and that evidence from two professionals who knew them and their children was not put before the court.”

Mr Justice Munby had approved an interim care order under which the local authority has shared responsibility for Brandon with his parents.

He said this was not necessarily a permanent position but would allow the assessment process to continue.

The judge said Brandon's long-term future would not be decided until the full hearing next year, which could take up to 10 days in court.

“If the process goes as everyone hopes and there are no problems, then it may be that it would be possible for Brandon to live at home permanently with his parents.

“I stress 'may be'. Whether that turns out to be the case is something to be decided by the judge next year.”

Court orders banning the naming of the older children who are already with new parents continue.