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Swindon Borough Council v B & Ors

[2024] EWFC 8 (B)
A baby suffered badly because his parents used drugs. Even though they tried to stop, it wasn't enough to keep the baby safe. The judge ordered the baby to be adopted because that was the best option for his future. The judge also criticized the help the parents were given before the baby was born.

Key Facts

  • Child A was born on June 16, 2023, to parents B and C, both long-term Class A drug users.
  • A experienced severe Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) requiring morphine treatment due to prenatal drug exposure.
  • Swindon Borough Council applied for Care and Placement Orders for adoption.
  • Parents relapsed on Christmas Eve, using heroin and crack cocaine.
  • The parents expressed a desire to abstain from drugs and requested an adjournment.

Legal Principles

A child's welfare is the paramount consideration.

Children Act 1989, s1(2); Adoption and Children Act 2002, s1(4)

Adoption is a last resort and only appropriate when nothing else will do.

Re B-S (2013) EWCA Civ 1146

The court must consider the rights of the child and parents to family life, ensuring any intervention is proportionate, justified, and necessary.

Article 8 ECHR, implicitly referenced

In determining welfare, the court may consider threshold findings relevant to risk, ability to care safely, and their relevance to the child.

Re Y (2013) EWCA Civ 1337

Outcomes

Care and Placement Orders granted, dispensing with parental consent to adoption.

The court found that the parents' long-term drug use and inability to abstain, despite significant harm caused to the child, meant they could not meet A's needs. Adoption was deemed the only option to ensure A's welfare.

Application for adjournment refused.

The court considered that further delay would prejudice A's welfare given the severity and duration of the harm already suffered. The parents' lack of sustained progress in addressing their drug use despite support was also a factor.

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