the courts ask social services to make a secction 7 report on both of my kids, the social worker said i can keep my baby but not my 7 year old daughter, my daughter was not taken away from me thought social services.my first daughter dad made aplication for a ex-parte i new nothing about it untill later ,i am still fighting to get my first daughter . back the social worker said i can keep my baby but not my 7 year old daughter.when the social worker made her reports she had made her decision .brfor any other repots wrer due to come out .when it to court for the final hearing the social woker should of give evidence , the social worker never came to court and made out she was bad and then whent on long tearm sick.the judge then thrown her of the case me and my solicitor made anapplication for a new social worker because she was biase d . she did us all a favour by pulling a sicky. . social services . make there minde up then. try and find the evidence to support what thay say.

susan slater, stoke on trent, staffordshire

Where is the father? What's his name? Gone abroad has he. He clearly doesn't exist according to Social Services.

Come back Fathers 4 Justice.

F4J can have words with this father. They can correct reality about a mature man's responsibilities when a woman is not fit to be a mother.

Ian, Halifax,

I think this is the same girl who went public recently in the Daily Mail. She could go public because the baby was unborn. The newspapers should defy the goverment and report these cases so that if a social worker lies or an expert is wrong, it cannot be buried. Also, what sort of precedent does that set for the future? Are girls going to be discouraged from seeking medical help if they are having some mental/emotional problems because later on down the line they might be perceived as a risk to their future child?

M, Beds,

Of course, few people know that councils have targets for generating babies for adoption (I only found out listening to Radio 4 news coverage of this).

It was suggested that this was a case of trying to meet quotas.

Council quotas are bound to override the law and facts.

W Smith, Manchester,

John,
Without the proper facts how can you possibly make such a statement that she maybe a bad mum.
Is it because she is 18?Had mental health issues?
Or because she ran away?
The courts surrounding this are so secretive how can you possibly know that she didnt run away from an unloving/ violent home, her mental health issues could have ranged from vaious minor to major issues. Its a sad fact that anyone who is/has been mentally ill in this country who wants to be a parent and has sought help will be judged on how well they are a mother more than somebody who never sought proper help and therefore will always have to fight harder for their child.
I know plenty of women who had babies in their teens and half of them have raised more intelligent and socially aware children than then some of the supposidly better off mums.
Dont be so quick to judge when you dont have the facts.

bethan, manchester,

To say that the mother “has mental health problems” is in my opinion, scare-mongering. It is possible that the mother has problems, but we don’t know how serious these problems are and if they can be treated. The implication given by the social services is that the mother is a total psychotic, which is unfair to all concerned. Mental health problems do not preclude one from being a productive member of society/good parent. I know this because I have “mental health problems” I hold down a responsible, full time job. My mental health is managed and medicated and I would be extremely distressed if any one tried to prevent me from doing “normal” things in such an underhand way--- just because I’m a bit of a nutter!!

Charlotte, London,

I am glad to see that the Judge and the solicitor had the courage to stand up to this injustice. Say what you will about the mother, but the law is the law. You cant just go taking babies without the proper authority that is unacceptable. I believe that the social service in this story should be made an example of. Fine them, take them to court, Noone is above the law. If the mother was suspected of having health problems and could be a danger to the child the hospital staff would never have let her near the baby. So i think we should stop attempting to cover for the mistakes of the civil/social services. She also has the right to have a baby and I am fed up to the back teeth of people complaining about single mothers and the burden they are on society. Rather than complain about it take action better sexual education classes and for goodness sake give them contraceptives.

John, Plymouth, England

Isn't this kidnapping ?

Concerned, London,

My reading is that social services are guilty of kidnapping. I trust they will be prosecuted?

imj, Abu Dhabi, uae

What can you expect from New Labour?

RB, Aberdeen,

Im 18 years old and seven months pregnant, I live in a mother and baby unit after being made homeless in my tenth week of pregnancy. My consultant seems to think that i cannot look after my baby because of were i live, A nice comfortable house with other young women in the same situation as me with the help and support form the key workers who work for the mother and baby unit. I have no history of mental health problems and i DO NOT pose as a risk to my verymuch loved and wanted baby girl who is due to arrive in april. Even though i have heard nothing from social services as yet i know they have been informed, this story has made me feel that having my baby in hospital poses a risk to myself and my child. I am obviously not aware of any of the details of the case but surely if this young lady has had or has mental heatlh problems then the appropriate counselling and help should be provided for her to bring up her baby, i will not be sleeping a wink when i have my baby

Sarah, Southend on sea, Essex

I was in foster care and got pregnant when I was 18, and diagnosed with depression (fancy that?!). I eventually moved to the US to get away from Social Services as they kept harrassing me, too. Since moving out of the country I have earned a degree, and a masters, a fantastic well paying job and a wonderful husband...and my baby is now 18 years old. I still have nightmares about those bastards tryingto take my child or throw me in some institution. I have not even been back to Nottingham for a vacation and it is the last place on earth I would ever intentionally go.
Best of luck sweet heart and never give in!!!

Renee Christ, San Andreas, USA

Do the Social Services have powers that even the police don't? Is there a similar service which will 'rescue' battered women from their homes before the next act of harm? Taking a newborn from his mother, against whom evidence was lacking that she posed a risk to the child, is horrendous. Someone should take the Social Services into custody.

Will not other questions arise from this? If the Social Services felt this lady was a risk and knew within her first three months of pregnancy that they would remove the child after birth, should they not have warned her not to have gone through the whole palaver of the pregnancy? Advised her, even, to have the baby aborted? Advised her to use contraceptives before the fact? Had a court determine that she was unfit to ever be pregnant or to raise her own child?

bernadette, toronto, canada

I think any system that just 'kidnaps' a child from mother without any consideration of the law is dangerous. If a child has to be taken away from its parent it should be done in a way that is legal and has the interest of the child at it's heart. You only remove a child from its mother if it really is in danger and with the child only being one day old I doubt there is any prove of that so far. It seems a very judgemental attitude all based of the statement 'mental problems' with no evidence to support it.

elle , Birmingham ,

I think it is disgraceful that someone can come in to a maternity ward and just take a baby away from its mother. What right do they have!!

How would they feel if the shoe was on the other foot and it happened to one of them!!!

sam, gateshead, uk

The person who authorized it should be made to explain why the proper procedures were not followed and this action that was taken.

DA, aberdeen, UK

OK, lets say that Socail Services have genuine concern about the baby and the mother's ability to look after it successfully.

A baby isn't a surprise arrival. Even if the mother didn't tell them about being pregnant at some point you don't have to tell anyone it's totally obvious.

I think this still left the Social Services staff ample time to arrange the correct paperwork. Instead they once more dropped the ball and screwed up. Effectively ending up in a child being kidnapped and wrongfully imprisoned.

The law is there for a reason, to protect us from the personal foul ups from people who decide that they can take the law into their own hands.

Now there will be a court case and win or lose the tax payer will foot a large bill.

Kevin, Kent, UK

I agree with JGoody and disagree with Ally in Glasgow - it seems the social services are simply going after the easy targets, rather than spending time and money dealing with children who are in real danger, like Victoria Clibie was.

Kate, Worcester,

They are quick of the mark with this one, but they aren't quick to move when drug addicts have children. Look at the amount of children left in the care of drug addicted mothers who would rather spend the child support on illegal substances instead of baby food. Its utterly disgraceful, they should be ashamed of themselves. They practically abducted the child from its mother. I thought that the first few hours of contact between a mother and child were crucial for the long term bond between them.

Lynnsay, Dundee, Scotland

Make no mistake, the social workers will take this affront personally and will move heaven and earth to get this child.

Ayayay, London, UK

No baby should ever be seperated from their mother (unless of course serious risk is present) and what has happend here is heartless and cruel. If serious risk to the baby is not evident in this instance all parties responsible for the seperation should be fired from their jobs with disgrace. Oh, and they should not be entitled to any state benefits whatsoever !

People like this are an embarrasment to the rest of us.

martin bown, south normanton, derbyshire

What if the baby is at high risk of being harmed and Social Service don't intervene?

There are plenty of documented cases where Social Services could have and should have intervened - Victoria Climbie, Kimberley Carlile, Jasmine Beckford, Maria Colwell, Shirley Woodcock - I could go on.

When they intervene they are criticized - so what? When they don't intervene the consequences are far far worse. I can live with that.

Ally, Glasgow, Scotland

Hopefully a rather large lawsuit will be slapped on social services to make them realise that they are not above the law regardless of what they seem to think.

Anthony, Manchester, UK

well done to the solicitor, i think if anything her child will bring stabilitiy and love into her life maybe repairing what social services couldn't do.

tony, plymouth,

It's OK. We'll spend a fortune supporting this girl and child with probably more babies to come. Then a few years on there will be a mini crime wave around where they live.
Sure social services got the law wrong but you can bet your bottom dollar that this is an unfit mother at this point in time.

john, lincoln,

Gordon Brown decided even before getting into number 11 that part of the nuLabour vision for the Uk was to greatly expand the interference/involvement (you choose the word) of the State into our lives, in the Victorian belief that Gordon Knows Best. This episode is just one of many thousands of examples of his superiority at work. What makes me laugh is that the people who are suffering most in this country from this nuLabour government are the very people who would be expected to vote for them. Having shown no interest in creating manufacturing jobs for people to do and creating over 1 million jobs in local and central government, it;s only to be expected that these new 1 million have to find things for themselves to do.....

greg palmer, london,

She was in hospital, surrounded by health care professionals. What harm could she have done? And what right have they to assume that just because a girl has had an unfortunate past, that means she has no right or ability to raise her child well?

Meg, Pembs,

So the civil service now think they are above the law. Why do they think we have judges and courts in the first place? Whatever their motives I agree with Laura of Dorking - doing this without observing the legal requirements is kidnap and false imprisonment of a child. Then again, they would have to be charged by the CPS - another bunch of pencil-pushing civil servants, so not much hope of action there, then!

KR, Stockport,

Had mental problems? Probably caused by realising that the STATE has snatched away you newly born baby.

That event is enough for anyone to suffer serious psycological effects.

Dominic, London, UK

This is going on up and down the country and is a national scandal. The courts are secret and there is no accountability - the system is flawed. It stinks.

Tess, Bristol

Jess Walker, Bristol, UK

I believe that Social Service employees have acted as a law unto themselves in the past. This judgment goes a long way to redress the balance. However, please do not forget the safety and welfare of the child .

A Moody, Durham,

The recent case of the mother who had her children snatched by the state and local government agents is simply evil in action.

I know of far too many mothers and fathers who are falling victim to a bunch of neo-Nazi's who curb crawl for trade, in which they hunt down parents simply to snatch children for money.

They look for easy targets, e.g parents who they can alarm and distress with direct threats that if they do not comply with government funded interviews and access to ones home they will call the police and the police will take the children without a trial.

If complied with they make further suggestions that they are going to take the children anyway, all the time bating parents and causing deep distress and anxiety with threats to take the children, which soon wears down the parent by a form of mind manipulation untill the parent is caused to become ill by the stress put on them.

The courts also do not publish the true number of children being taken.

JGoody, York, UK

Laura from Dorking is correct, the judge stated the baby was taken "unlawfully", therefore the social workers broke the law and should be arrested and charged as with any other kidnapper.

If I took a child from a parent even with the best of intentions I would be charged, how can they do the same and not be held reponsible?

p phillips, coventry,

Please charge those concerned with kidnapping. As long as social services are allowed to get away with high-handed actions ,where there is no evidence that a new mother will harm her baby, only speculative anonymous suggestions, the right to family life is threatened.

Laura, Dorking,