Just watched a Cafcass officer repeatedly insist that a child being taken from their mum without warning & barred from seeing her for months, is not “traumatic” but merely “puzzling and confusing”. Child was placed with their dad, whom they said had physically mistreated them.
I've spent the past 4 months investigating one of the worst safeguarding failures in the shadow care system, where hundreds of kids live in illegal children's homes. My report for @tbij.bsky.social 1/2👇
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...
Thanks for sharing.
Florence* is now 20 and in her second year at university. She is an advocate for change for other young people and hopes that lessons can be learnt from her experience. (*not her real name). Read her full story here 👉 tinyurl.com/4nxdst55 (9/9)
Just before Florence turned 16 she cut off all contact with her father. She told me: “This was an incredibly difficult decision to make but it’s also the most liberated I have ever felt,” she says. (8/9)
Eventually Florence secured her own legal representation and won a legal challenge in the high court to return to her mother's care. By this time she was 15. You can read the published judgment in her case here - tinyurl.com/4vsd6zk5 (7/9)
She told me: “Mum always told me if I wanted a relationship with my father she would support me, and I never doubted her. But it wasn’t what I wanted – and no one believed I’d reached that decision on my own. I felt powerless.” (6/9)
From the age of 12 she fought to have her own legal representation so she could challenge the court's orders and even wrote to the President of the Family Division, Sir Andrew McFarlane, seeking help. She got no response. This is the letter she sent him. (5/9)
She was made to have therapy sessions and was even told that if she was critical about her father, her time with her mother would be further restricted. (4/9)
Florence was spoken to by a number of professionals but she said that none of them took her wishes and feelings seriously. She said that after a court appointed experts gave evidence to say she was under her mother's influence, her views were disregarded.(3/9)
Every year, tens of thousands of children are caught in the middle of family court disputes. In some cases, protracted custody battles can lead to a child being removed from one parent and placed with the other - this is what happened to Florence. (2/9)
I interviewed a remarkable young woman, Florence*, for @tbij.bsky.social who spoke to me about her experience of the family courts and her efforts to bring her own legal challenge after being removed from her mother's care at the age of 10. tinyurl.com/4nxdst55 (1/9)
A council sent a highly vulnerable girl to an illegal children's home staffed by criminals
They plied her with alcohol and drugs and sexually abused her
Vital reporting by @tomwall.bsky.social for @tbij.bsky.social
Child focused courts (previously called the pathfinder courts) will be expanded nationally in "game changer" for family justice. A successful pilot of the new 'problem solving' model has been credited with reducing delays and better safeguarding children. tinyurl.com/264x9nb4
What does the President's 'Re Y' judgment mean for the family courts? My analysis for @tbij.bsky.social tinyurl.com/mr36v98k
Thank you and no worries!
The Guardian piece I wrote that is quoted in your round-up was published prior to the judgment being handed down. My reporting on the Re Y decision for @tbij.bsky.social can be found here: www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2026...
Have we seen the last of unregulated psychologists in the family courts? My report on McFarlane's landmark judgment, Re Y. He says his ruling is not just about one person (Melanie Gill) but a whole system that failed to protect the children in this case. tinyurl.com/mvpbjjfs
I keep hearing that the rise of the populist right is one of the biggest threats to the climate. Watching Trump’s second term it’s hard to disagree
So @tbij.bsky.social looked at what councils controlled by Reform UK are doing on climate
What we found was pretty shocking
www.theguardian.com/law/2026/feb... by @hansummers.bsky.social also now reported in @theguardian.com Will other cases be reviewed?
A mother whose children were taken by the family court has been vindicated after a 6 yr struggle to have evidence from an unregulated psychologist overturned. The advice of Melanie Gill led to "draconian" orders terminating her relationship with her kids. My report here 👉 tinyurl.com/ypp99rka
Thurrock warns Liam Kavanagh is not ‘off the hook’, as council report points to £200m investment loss
New by me for @tbij.bsky.social
The family court will not carry out a wholesale review of cases involving the unregulated psychologist, Melanie Gill, @tbij.bsky.social can reveal. Meanwhile mothers who had their children taken away after Gill gave evidence in their cases demand a public apology. tinyurl.com/595ah2e5
Excellent reporting from my colleagues @garethtbij.bsky.social and @tomwall.bsky.social on illegal children's homes which are being paid millions in public money to accommodate vulnerable kids despite lack of proper safeguards and checks. tinyurl.com/yvxj28ru
The former chair of the Criminal Bar Association, Jo Sidhu KC, has failed in his appeal against being disbarred after three charges of professional misconduct relating to inappropriate sexual behaviour were found against him. tinyurl.com/3sazzzpe
As parents, we're supposed to remember the first time we did stuff with our kids, but the last time is equally as significant, if not more.
This poem is from Whatever You Do, Just Don't (HappenStance Press, 2023), my second full collection...
@tbij.bsky.social doing the right thing. We are no longer posting on X
NEW: Six years ago today a boy was removed from his mother's care by the family court and banned from seeing her following the evidence of an unregulated psychologist. Now they will spend Christmas together after his successful legal bid to the high court. tinyurl.com/4suja87n
A boy taken away from his mother on the advice of unregulated psychologist Melanie Gill has won the right to spend Christmas with her for the first time in six years
More incredible impact from @tbij.bsky.social's @hansummers.bsky.social
www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2025...
