Nick Goodwin KC and Daniel Sheridan in Re B and G (Fact-Finding) [2026] EWCA Civ 860
10th Jul 2026 | Cases
Daniel Sheridan was instructed by Denise Higgins of Woodfines Solicitors in Re B and G (Fact-Finding) [2026] EWCA Civ 860, acting for the successful appellant mother led by Joanne Brown KC of 4 Paper Buildings.
Nick Goodwin KC, leading Lubna Rasul of St Albans Chambers, was instructed by the respondent local authority.
The Court of Appeal allowed the parents’ joint appeal against findings of fact made by HHJ Kushner in care proceedings concerning two children, aged 5 and 2. The judge had found that injuries sustained by the children, including bruises to the boy and subdural haemorrhages and a bruise to the girl, were inflicted by one or both parents.
The Court of Appeal held that the judge’s analysis of the complex medical evidence was flawed and her evaluation of the parents’ evidence was inadequate. The trial judge misinterpreted the neurosurgeon’s opinion, wrongly concluding that he believed the subdural bleeding was non-accidental when he had, in fact, identified four potential causes and could not say which was the most likely.
The trial judge failed to resolve a crucial factual dispute about whether the children continued to sustain injuries in foster care and wrongly discounted the treating haematologist’s clinical evidence that the children bruised disproportionately, preferring instead an expert’s analysis based on incomplete foster carer logs.
The trial judge failed to give proper consideration to the parents’ oral evidence, their credibility and reliability, despite this being central to the case. She failed adequately to consider the positive features of the parents’ care during an extended period of 24/7 supervision.
The appeal was allowed and findings that the injuries were inflicted and that both parents were in the pool of perpetrators were set aside.
Also reported in The Law Society Gazette.
