Couple win baby battle

A couple who have been fighting to stop their baby from being taken away were told by a High Court judge they can finally take him home.

In a landmark case at the High Court's family division, Nicky and Mark Webster were told they could take their five-month-old son Brandon home to live with them in Cromer.

The case was the first time a gagging order was lifted in a family court - but Mr Justice Munby also gave permission for Norfolk County Council to reveal the full details of the abuse it was claimed the couple's other three children, known only as child A, B and C suffered.

The couple, previously known as the Hardinghams, fled to Ireland to give birth to Brandon amid fears he would be taken for adoption, as their other three children were.

Solicitors acting for the Websters said after the High Court hearing it was an “important step and remarkable” outcome for the couple, who have spent the last few months in an assessment centre with Brandon.

Mr Justice Munby also allowed the couple's lawyers to appoint medical experts in their battle to prove they were innocent of abuse. Depending on the findings of the experts, the parents could apply to reopen the proceedings which led to the three older children being adopted, although their solicitor stressed they did not intend to disrupt their placements. The children were taken after one child suffered unexplained fractures and medical experts believed this was the result of physical abuse. The couple, along with their family and friends, have always maintained the injuries were consistent with brittle bone disease - which runs in four generations of Nicky's family.

But the county council's position statement - used in evidence at yesterday's hearing - revealed how the brittle bone claim had been dismissed by an expert working on their behalf.

Sarah Harman, the solicitor acting for the couple, said: “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 the final hearing in June. 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. Nicola and Mark have always and will always deny any ill treatment. They love their three older children and think of them every day.”

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

Lisa Christensen, director of children's services at Norfolk County Council, said: “It is essential to state at the outset that it was a judge who decided adoption was in the best interests of the three children. Our priority has always been putting the best interests of Brandon first. Our job is to support families and try to keep them together wherever possible, and that is exactly what we have done in working with the Websters.

“Our view is that Brandon should be allowed home with Mr and Mrs Webster, with continued supervision and support from ourselves and others, before a final decision is made about his future.”

The allegations that lead to the Websters being branded “unfit parents”:

The abuse allegations that led to the Websters being branded unfit parents were made public for the first time following yesterday's ruling.

After the hearing yesterday, Norfolk County Council released the claims of physical and psychological damage to the couple's older children, who were adopted in May and November 2004.

It said:

*Mr and Mrs Webster were found to have caused “significant harm” to their two eldest children (A and B) and C was at “risk of significant harm”;

*child B suffered six fractures - including a rib fracture caused by “forceful squeezing” and other fractures caused by “forceful twisting”;

*the injuries to B would have “caused distress, which was likely to have lasted more than an hour”;

*a child psychiatrist reported A was “a troubled girl”, suffering from “relative emotional deprivations”. B was an “intensely anxious and wary child” with a sense of “uncertainty and fearfulness” when with his parents.

The statement revealed how Mr and Mrs Webster's claims that child B's fractures were caused by brittle bone disease - which runs in the mother's family - had been dismissed by an expert working on their behalf.

It also said the care provided by them to Brandon in recent months at a residential assessment centre had been “very good”, but some relationship sessions and meetings had caused “serious concern”.

Have you got a story to tell? Call Sarah Hall on 01603 772426 or e-mail sarah.hall2@archant.co.uk