According to reports on Guardian Online Professor David Southall, a leading paediatrician is under investigation by police in South Wales, that he left a child brain damaged as a result of a controversial breathing experiment 15 years ago The report by Sandra Laville goes to say:-Detectives have stepped up an investigation into claims that the leading paediatrician David Southall left a child brain damaged as a result of a controversial breathing experiment 15 years ago, the Guardian has learned.South Wales police have broadened their inquiry into an allegation that Professor Southall assaulted the boy by carrying out the test and are asking dozens of parents whose children may have come into contact with the paediatrician over the years to come forward if their child suffered any injuries as a result of his treatment. Professor Southall has denied that his treatment has harmed any child.In a letter to parents last week, Detective Inspector Chris Mullane, of the force's child … [Read more...]
Sweden to launch inquiry into alleged abuse 50 years ago
Thousands of Swedes who say they were subjected to physical abuse and cruel treatment in state children's homes and foster care for decades from the 1950s have won the promise of an official inquiry. A cabinet minister said the probe would investigate the cases, which peaked in the 1940s and '50s when Sweden's zeal for social engineering included making children of single women or poor people wards of the state.It could result in an apology and compensation similar to that given in the 1990s to around 60,000 women who were forcibly sterilised between 1936-76 after being deemed unfit for motherhood because they were handicapped. Alleged abuse includes attempted rape and forcing children to keep their heads under icy water (more). … [Read more...]
Foster Carer – be aware
There is also an interesting article in the 1st December 2005 edition of Community Care about the emotional and financial cost of a foster carer's fight against false allegations of child abuse. The foster carer, herself a former social services manager, took her case to the Local Government Ombudsmen and was exonerated. The article also contains some interesting statistics about the risk of foster parents being accused of child abuse. … [Read more...]
Foster Carers Speak Out
In her 15 years as a foster carer Judy Drake never thought it was a job for someone who wanted an easy life. But in the past two years, she has lost 60,000 in income, has nearly lost her home and is 25,000 in debt because of false allegations.Unusually, it was the local authority for which she fosters that made the allegations against her - allegations which began after she questioned an instruction from the authority about how two of her three foster children were to be treated. She was then said by the council to have claimed that the children had been sexually abused and suffered from various illnesses. It also alleged she had favoured one of the children and had not given balanced views about the two children to their potential adopters.She has since discovered that some of the files relating to her case have gone missing, some have been rewritten and parts have been deleted. "I'm down as attending meetings I was never at," she says.The independent investigation exonerated her but … [Read more...]
Abuse Compensation Policy Criticised [South Australia]
A foster carers group in South Australia has been threatened with legal action over an advert announcing its establishment. The Crown's Solicitors Office have alleged that the group made "false and misleading claims" by stating that that the Government had promised compensation for children abused in State care. The group called Care Workers Coalition are concerned that the prospect of compensation might lead to false allegations of abuse being made against current and former foster parents. For the full story click here (PDF link). … [Read more...]
South Australian Care Workers Group Formed
South Australian Care Workers have formed a new lobby group as the State Government continues to investigate many hundreds of allegations of child sex abuse by former and current State wards against their childhood carers. The CareWorkers Coalition of South Australia has been created amid growing concerns that care providers are being falsely accused of child sex offences by individuals seeking compensation payouts offered by the State Government. Coalition spokesperson Julie Halifax said extensive international experience over the last 20 years had demonstrated that the Rann Government’s offer of compensation for sexually abused State wards would also generate many false complaints here.“n other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Canada, literally thousands of false allegations, have been linked to government offers of compensation.” said Ms Halifax, an experienced foster parent.“From 1993 to 2005, the Canadian Province of Nova Scotia spent over $150 … [Read more...]
New support group founded in Australia
This item first appeared on the F.A.C.T website on 17th February 2005A new Support Group has set up in Australia. Their aim is to challenge the negative stereotypes which have arisen in Australia of children who are (where) in care following revelations of abuse in foster care.WHO WE AREAt a time of child abuse panic, Foster Proud has been established this year by a group of over 60 young people from the South Australian care system. Our membership includes those who are or have been in foster care, residential care and kinship care and as the word spreads, so is our membership growing. Foster Proud has been based on the Irish organisation Let Our Voves Emerge (L.O.V.E.)Foster Proud is about being proud of foster care. Our members have in common a genuine desire to challenge the negative stereotypes promoted by politicians about children and young people in care and their carers. Unlike other foster care action groups, our membership also includes biological parents of those in care, … [Read more...]
Contacting your trades union/professional associations
This item first appeared on the F.A.C.T. website on 24th February 2005 Several F.A.C.T. members have asked for the contact details of the relevant trades unions which serves the Education and Social Services/Local Government areas. The list below shows the contact details for the main headquarters. Detail of local offices can usually be found on national Education Sally Hunt General Secretary Association of University Teachers Egmont House 25/31 Tavistock Place London WC1 9UT Email Jean Gemmel General Secretary Professional Association of Teachers (Eng) 2 St James Court Friar Gate Derby DE1 1BT Email Society of Schoolmasters and School Mistresses Kings School Canterbury CT1 2ES National Assoc of Teachers in Further & Higher Education (Eng) 27 Britannia Street London WC1X 9UP Email Doug McAvoy General Secretary National Union of Teachers Hamilton House Mabledon Place London WC1 … [Read more...]
Expert witnesses, suspect science and dead babies
Expert witnesses, suspect science and dead babiesWhy have women been wrongly convicted of killing their children? Dr James Le Fanu points the finger at medical experts. Below, Dr Michael Fitzpatrick responds. by Dr James Le Fanu'Please, if there is any way you could help with our situation, by yourself or anyone you know, could you please get in touch. We can honestly say, hand on heart, we haven't done anything to hurt our baby. We are now been [sic] assessed and we got told [sic] that when we go to the finding of facts hearing and we still insist we haven't done anything, our twins will go up for adoption.' - Letter from parent 'For me, the unusual feature is death so soon after being seen well, the fact that there have been previous deaths in the family and the fact that he had had an episode of some sort only nine days before he died that caused him to be assessed in hospital, because those features are ones that are found really quite commonly in children who have been smothered … [Read more...]
‘It’s a life sentence with no reprieve’
Cassandra Jardine meets parents whose children have been taken from them and asks if Britain's closed adoption system will ever changeThe Carters' living room in south London is covered with pictures of their four children. Will and Michelle (not their real names, because family court rules prevent them being identified) yearn to live as a family again, but for the past five years they have had to content themselves with waiting and hoping. Gone for good? Parents are fighting court decisions Following a court case in 2000 where, on the evidence of Professor Sir Roy Meadow, they were held responsible for poisoning their youngest child by giving her 12-16 imipromine tablets prescribed for their eldest child's bedwetting, the two elder children were put with foster carers and the two younger ones adopted. "I wouldn't even recognise the younger ones now," says Michelle, looking at a picture taken at the "goodbye" meeting when they were only three and five. As their family was pulled apart, … [Read more...]
Foster care minister must apologise “We are not human wreckage”[Australia]
A group of young people from the State’s foster care system has called on Families and Communities Minister Jay Weatherill to publicly apologise for ‘highly insulting, belittling and dumb’ comments he made about foster children in Parliament late last year. Mr Ben Dunne, founder of a newly formed SA action group called Foster Proud, said Minister Weatherill’s description of foster children as ‘human wreckage’[1]on 8th December 2004 just added to negative views the community typically held about those in care. Mr Dunne, a former state ward, resident of institutions and foster child himself, said “Foster Proud members believe the Minister’s offensive and unjustified comments undermine the great work that lobby groups for kids in care like the Create Foundation and the Youth Affairs Council have done in promoting a more positive and accurate image.” “Foster Proud demands that the Minister makes a full apology about his comments and keeps his private views to … [Read more...]
It’s getting worse for vulnerable parents
Two months ago, health.telegraph explored the problem of children being taken into care after their parents had been falsely accused of ill-treatment. Since then, reports Cassandra Jardine, more than 40 couples have defied the rules of secrecy to tell of their own experiencesSince the acquittal of Sally Clark, Angela Cannings and Trupti Patel, a large question mark has hung over the belief, held by some paediatricians and social workers, that there is a hidden epidemic of child abuse in this country. Help needed: 'it is getting worse for vulnerable parents and vulnerable children' Those three women, whose children died sudden, unexpected deaths, had never been in trouble with the police or social services, yet they were accused of murder. The overturning of those verdicts may have left people with the impression that such miscarriages of justice no longer occur. Unfortunately, that confidence seems to be misplaced, as more cases are arising all the time. Nor does a child have to die … [Read more...]
Katrina Meaclem missed out on precious time with her dying father because of false sexual abuse allegations. (New Zealand)
False abuse claim robs woman of dying dad 20 May 2004 By JARROD BOOKERKatrina Meaclem missed out on precious time with her dying father because of false sexual abuse allegations. Sixteen years after her father's death, Meaclem, 29, cannot forgive Dr Diane Espie, who examined her and added considerable weight to existing claims that she had been abused by her father. Without the diagnosis by Espie when she was 12, Meaclem believes she may have been allowed to return to live with her parents. "I was daddy's girl. (But) we had to sneak around just to spend some quality time with him," Meaclem said. "I think the most time I spent with (my father) was when he ended up in hospital." Her father spent six weeks in hospital before he died. Espie is under scrutiny for her examination of several young girls at Christchurch's Glenelg Health Camp. ACT MP Deborah Coddington said Espie's examinations and claims against the fathers of her patients amounted to a "dreadful scandal". "Dr Espie, without … [Read more...]
The dark side of foster care – False allegation
Although this refers to the American experience it has a lot of echoes for foster-carers throughout the Uk. Read one family's account of the impact false allegations had on them. … [Read more...]
Childminders get compensation after false abuse claim
Two Sutton childminders have won £7,000 in compensation in the wake of a bungled council investigation into allegations of child abuse made against them. In a report out this week, former Local Government Ombudsman Patricia Thomas found the council had deprived the married couple of seven months of earnings and caused them considerable stress during investigation. Both say they are so upset by the case they have vowed never to return to their jobs because of the so-called risks of childminding and foster care. The local authority agreed to settle with a £7,000 pay-out and has said it deeply regrets the distress caused. Published on Local London - link no longer active … [Read more...]
