A father was held for questioning due to his alleged expression of “unorthodox views” regarding formula milk, breastfeeding, and bottle sterilization, the Metro reports. Social services took a newborn baby into care after the dad voiced out his alarming opinions.
Medical staff were the first ones who heard the dad say the things. The baby is now back to the parents. Kirklees Council, the one who took the baby away, was ordered to pay the family a total of $13,500 in damages.
According to BuzzFeed News, Kirklees Council was given an interim care order to take away the baby boy from his parents. The hospital released a referral that was questioning the parents’ capacity to care for the baby in the long run. That’s when Kirklees expressed concerns.
According to the referral, the baby’s mom seemed like she had no support from the family. The dad, on the other hand, had expressed “unorthodox views about the need for sterilisation of bottles, and the benefits of formula milk.”
Kirklees council claimed that they had informed the family about its planned actions. However, the family wasn’t given any information at all.
According to the ruling, “The father at times struggles to manage his frustrations at times, and has displayed controlling and aggressive behaviors to others.”
The parents, who will remain unnamed, were described as being in their mid-twenties. The two also had mild learning difficulties and received assistance from adult social care services in the last 10 years.
The baby was born in November 2015. The baby was returned to his parents on January 29, 2016.
The family argued that the council’s decision and action to take away the baby violated the European Convention on Human Rights “because they had been denied their right to a fair trial, by not being informed of proceedings, and their right to family life,” according to BuzzFeed.
Mr. Justice Cobb said, “There is no doubt in my mind, indeed it is admitted, that Kirklees Council breached the ECHR rights of a baby boy and his parents in purported fulfilment of its safeguarding duties.”
A spokesperson for Kirklees Council released a statement: “The court and parties accepted that the council was correct to issue these proceedings, but mistakes were made which resulted in the court awarding the family compensation.
“The local authority has been ordered to pay a contribution of the publicly funded costs of the claimants, which cover specific periods of the case. This is due to the way the claimants’ litigation was conducted.”
