PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "A High Court ruling earlier this year raised concerns about unregulated psychological evidence in family proceedings. Gill had given expert advice in more than 150 family court cases which often involved allegations of parental alienation. The High Court found her evidence was ‘unreliable’ and that it ‘should not have been relied upon’ in a parental alienation case where Gill described the mother as a ‘narcissist’ who alienated her children from their father."
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PASSAGE TWO OF THE DAY: "The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports that questions are being raised over Gill’s biases and diagnoses following a joint investigation with Tortoise Media. She claims to have provided evidence in 200 cases. Her advice has led to at least 12 children being taken away from their mothers. But Gill has had her evidence thrown out in a separate case."
STORY: Teen reunited with his mum after six-years of court order, By Reporter William Hallowell, published by MSN during Christmas season, 2025
PHOTO CAPTION: "Unregulated psychologist Melanie Gill (pictured) told the family court the mother had ‘turned the children against their father."
GIST: "A boy who was taken away from his mother at the age of nine due to a ‘draconian’ court order will be reunited with her in time for Christmas after nearly six years apart.
The teenager, now 15 years old, was removed from his mother’s care along with his sister after an unregulated psychologist, Melanie Gill, advised a family court that their mother had ‘turned the children against their father’, according to The Bureau of Investigative Journalism.
The siblings were sent to live with their father in 2019 before the judge banned any further contact with their mother – which she described as ‘unthinkably draconian’.
But the boy will be able to see his mother, Erin (not her real name), this Christmas after he ran away from his father and hired a lawyer to launch a legal bid at the High Court due to new guidance around allegations of parental alienation, which states experts should not be used to look for parental alienation.
In 2020 it was ruled that Erin had ‘actively alienated’ her children from their father.
But in her application this year, her lawyer did not accept the suggestion that she was ‘responsible for the harm caused’ to her son.
At the hearing, Mrs Justice Lieven said the no-contact order was ‘very heavily based’ on Gill’s evidence.
She said Erin’s son should stay with a family friend and resume contact with his mother.
Erin applied separately to re-open the findings from the court case six years ago.
A High Court ruling earlier this year raised concerns about unregulated psychological evidence in family proceedings.
Gill had given expert advice in more than 150 family court cases which often involved allegations of parental alienation.
The High Court found her evidence was ‘unreliable’ and that it ‘should not have been relied upon’ in a parental alienation case where Gill described the mother as a ‘narcissist’ who alienated her children from their father.
As a result, two children were removed from her care and she was allowed fortnightly supervised contact for years after.
The Bureau of Investigative Journalism reports that questions are being raised over Gill’s biases and diagnoses following a joint investigation with Tortoise Media.
She claims to have provided evidence in 200 cases.
Her advice has led to at least 12 children being taken away from their mothers.
But Gill has had her evidence thrown out in a separate case.
A High Court judge ruled that testimony provided by Gill failed to meet necessary evidential standards (Picture: Getty Images)
Mrs Justice Judd, of the High Court, ruled last month that testimony provided by Gill failed to meet necessary evidential standards.
The Victims’ Commissioner for England and Wales has since called for a review of all the cases of Gill’s where children were removed from a parent’s care.
Erin’s lawyer said the family court’s reliance on advice from unregulated experts was a ‘developing national scandal’.
Nearly six years since she last saw her son, Erin had a short visit from him in November.
She told TBIJ: ‘Seeing him again was amazing. He was very clingy and kept saying “I love you and I’ve missed you”. It was very moving.
‘He went away as a little boy and he’s come back as this big strapping lad with this deep voice.’
The night he visited her, police took him away at around 4am due to the pre-existing no-contact order.
He was placed in foster care after refusing to return to his father.
The last time Erin saw her son prior to his visit last month was six years ago when he was removed from her care."
The entire story can be read at:
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
