Key Facts
- •Three-week-old baby W's mother died by suicide while 7 months pregnant.
- •W was born via C-section after the mother's death.
- •W's father is in prison and lacks parental responsibility.
- •W is in foster care.
- •Local Authority (LA) applied for care orders.
- •The court considered whether threshold criteria could be met given the mother's death before W's birth.
Legal Principles
Court jurisdiction regarding unborn children and post-birth orders.
Re D (Unborn Baby) [2009] 2 FLR 313
Threshold criteria for care orders: significant harm and attributable harm (Sections 31(2)(a) and 31(2)(b) of the Children Act 1989).
Children Act 1989, sections 31(2)(a) and 31(2)(b)
Relevant date for assessing significant harm: date of application or date of protective measures.
Re M [1994] 2 FLR 577; Southwark LBC v B [1998] 2 FLR 1095
Attributability of harm can encompass pre-birth care, even if the parent is deceased.
This case's judgment
Purposive interpretation of Section 31 of the Children Act 1989.
Re J [2017] EWFC 44
Principles underpinning wardship jurisdiction.
Z v V and Anor [2024] EWHC 365 (Fam); other cited cases in section 22
Wardship should not duplicate care orders; Section 100(4) of the Children Act 1989.
A City Council v LS [2019] EWHC 1384 (Fam)
Outcomes
Threshold criteria under section 38 are met; an interim care order (ICO) is appropriate.
The mother's actions before death caused significant harm; alternatively, the father's inability to care for W also meets the threshold.
Wardship is not the appropriate order.
Care proceedings are suitable, and wardship would duplicate the statutory scheme.