"The parents of a baby taken into care at
six weeks old and later adopted have vowed to "fight till our last
breath" to be reunited with their child after a court cleared them of
abuse. Karrissa Cox and Richard
Carter were found not guilty of causing injury to their baby more than
three years after they took the child to hospital upon finding bleeding
in the mouth. Doctors, fearing child
abuse after finding bruising on the baby's body and "healing fractures"
on an X-ray, then recommended the youngster be taken into care by
social services, which later found adoptive parents following a ruling
of abuse by the
family courts.
Now both Ms Cox and Mr Carter have said they plan to launch a legal
battle to overturn the adoption, but lawyers expressed doubts they will
ever see the child again. In a statement the pair, both 25, said: "We
took our child to the hospital seeking help and they stole our baby from
us." The couple were exonerated at Guildford Crown Court on Wednesday
after
defence experts discovered the child was suffering from a blood disorder
called Von Willebrand II, which causes a person to bruise easily, as
well as a vitamin D deficiency and infantile rickets. After contesting
the defence expert evidence, the prosecution engaged
an independent radiologist, who concluded he doubted there were any
fractures at all. That led prosecutors to offer no evidence and not
guilty verdicts to be entered, according to law firm Garden Court
Chambers. The couple, of Guildford, Surrey, had been allowed supervised
contact
with the child when in care until the youngster was adopted last year.
"It is heartbreaking to know our child is out there, living and
breathing in someone else's arms," Ms Cox
told the Daily Mirror.
"No parent should go through this ever. This just rips your soul away
from you. We wouldn't wish this on anyone"...The couple's
barrister, Michael Turner QC, of Garden Court Chambers, said: "These
innocent parents have been spared a criminal conviction and a prison
sentence for a crime they never committed. Their life sentence is that
they are likely never to see their baby again." Emma Fenn, also
of Garden Court Chambers, said: "This tragic case highlights the real
dangers of the Government's drive to increase adoption and speed up
family proceedings at all costs. "It also shows the perils of
the continued inaction relating to a nationwide epidemic of vitamin D
deficiency and rickets and the grave injustice that can result when
relying on the opinions of medical professionals alone to conclude child
abuse." Surrey County Council said in a statement: "With any case like
this we only have one thing in mind, the welfare of the child. "This
case was examined carefully by the Family Court and having heard
all the evidence, it took the view that it was appropriate for the child
to be removed from the parents."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/11921061/Vindicated-parents-of-baby-taken-into-care-and-adopted-vow-to-fight-for-return-of-stolen-child.html
