Elisabeth Wickham and Oliver Powell in Oxfordshire County Council v M & Ors [2025] EWFC 166 (B)
8th Jul 2025 | Cases
Elisabeth Wickham was instructed by Oxford Law Group on behalf of the Third Respondent, A (a child), acting through their Children’s Guardian, and Oliver Powell represented the Applicant Local Authority in Oxfordshire County Council v M & Ors [2025] EWFC 166 (B); a fact-finding in care proceedings concerning the cause of a significantly displaced spiral fracture of the midshaft of the child’s femur.
In this fact-finding hearing, a baby girl (‘A’) (born August 2023) was admitted to hospital in extreme distress on 9 November 2024 with a displaced spiral fracture to her right femur. Medical and radiological evidence confirmed the injury was acute, likely non-accidental, and likely caused by substantial rotational force within ten days of discovery.
A was placed in police protection from 12 November, then foster care on 18 November. A was reunited with her parents under the care of the maternal grandmother on 22 November 2024. This arrangement with A at home remained in place and A suffered no further injuries and there were no further incidents of concern.
The court heard evidence from leading clinicians in relation to the nature and causation of the injury. The mother and father then gave evidence over the course of two days. Under cross-examination their accounts were found to have notable gaps and inconsistencies.
Ultimately the court found that there was a real possibility or likelihood that either the mother or father caused the injury, and made all the findings sought by the local authority. In its concluding remarks the court stated:
“I have noted several times in this judgment how clear it is to all concerned that M and F love A very much and present as committed to caring for her. I cannot speculate about what happened to lead to A being injured in their care, but she suffered a significant injury in what seems more likely than not to be some sort of momentary lapse on the part of either M or F, whilst they were under extraordinary pressure, the precise details of which lapse have not yet been disclosed.”
