A Local Authority v Mother & Ors

Facts

The mother and Mr D married in 2014 and had two daughters, A (born 2016) and B (born 2018); the marriage broke down and they separated by late 2019, private law proceedings concluding in June 2022 with a shared care arrangement. The mother had met Mr E online in 2021; their daughter C was born in 2022. In spring 2024 Mr E was arrested for possession of indecent images, and the mother, spoken to at work, understated her continuing contact with him. In early 2025 she was arrested for arranging or facilitating the commission of a child sex offence in respect of all three children, and the children were removed under section 20 consent, A and B going to Mr D and C into foster care. A jury convicted both the mother and Mr E on all counts on the final indictment: Mr E received nine years' custody, the mother a two-year suspended sentence, and both were made subject to Sexual Harm Prevention Orders. In the local authority's section 31 application dated 13 May 2024, agreed threshold findings dated 23 May 2025 recorded sexual and emotional harm arising from graphic messages in which the parents discussed and planned the sexual abuse of the children. This was the final welfare hearing.