A and B No 1 (care : fact-finding : sexual abuse), Re

Facts

The proceedings concerned two sisters: [A], who was about to turn seventeen, and [B], aged six. Their mother is [Ms X]; [A]'s father is [Mr Y] and [B]'s father is [Mr Z], the mother's second husband. The family had been known to Slough Borough Council since 2009 through concerns about domestic abuse and substance misuse, and the older children were subject to child protection plans between December 2015 and February 2017. On 29 July 2024 [A] attended a police station with her maternal grandmother and alleged that [Mr Z] had sexually abused her. [Mr Z], who had left for [Country D] earlier that day, was arrested on his return, charged with nine counts, and acquitted by a jury at the Crown Court in Reading on 14 March 2025. In April 2025 the mother took [A] to [Country D], where she was reported to have resumed her relationship with [Mr Z]. The local authority issued applications in the High Court on 30 May 2025; Mr Justice Trowell made an interim care order for [B], warded [A] and made forced marriage protection orders. On [A]'s return the wardship was discharged and an interim care order made for her. The proceedings were transferred to the Family Court at Reading, and the final hearing was split, with threshold determined first.