Legal Update: Court Report - Mother fakes child's death to stop contact

Judge Mrs Justice Eleanor King

Location High Court

The case concerned an application by a father for contact and parental responsibility of his three-year-old child. The child's mother had, together with his grandfather, sought to withhold contact with the child's father, whom the child had never met. The mother had a very unhealthy relationship with the child's grandfather, and allegations were made that he had repeatedly raped her.

The father applied for contact and parental responsibility and the case was referred to Cafcass for safeguarding checks. The mother denied that the father was the child's biological father and he sought a DNA test in order to prove that he was. The court found, after a Section 37 report was issued, that social services intended to seek a care order for the child, as a result of which, the mother took the child to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The mother and grandfather falsely claimed that the child had died in a road traffic accident while abroad.

The mother returned to England with papers pertaining to the child's death: a death certificate, a medical certificate and a burial permit pertaining to the death of the child. The High Court found that the mother and grandfather had bought falsified papers from the DRC. The court made findings that the child did not die in the DRC and that her mother and grandfather knew of her whereabouts. A number of orders were made to ensure that the child was returned to England as soon as practicable.