Nick Goodwin KC in C & D, Re (Refusal to Hold Fact-Finding Hearing) [2026] EWFC 155
1st Jul 2026 | Cases
Nick Goodwin KC, instructed by Alfred Newton, led Peter Rothery of Deans Court Chambers, for the Third Respondent child in C & D, Re (Refusal to Hold Fact-Finding Hearing) [2026] EWFC 155; at a hearing to determine whether a fact-finding hearing was necessary in care proceedings following the unexplained death of a 14-month-old child whilst in her sibling’s care.
The local authority sought findings against the children’s mother and, potentially, the deceased child’s sister, who was herself the subject of the proceedings.
The judge conducted a careful and principled application of the Oxfordshire principles and Re G, and concluded that the court’s resources and, more importantly, the welfare of the vulnerable child did not justify a hearing that was unlikely to produce a materially different outcome from that conceded in the threshold responses.
Declining to direct a fact-finding hearing, the court held that such an exercise was neither necessary nor proportionate. Whilst accepting that the threshold criteria were plainly met, the judge concluded that the medical evidence was unlikely to establish a sole perpetrator finding and that any forensic benefit would be outweighed by the significant psychological harm likely to be caused to the teenage sibling, who suffered from situational mutism, social anxiety and post-traumatic stress.
The judgment provides valuable guidance on the application of the Oxfordshire principles, reaffirming that necessity, proportionality and the welfare implications of the litigation process itself remain central when determining whether a fact-finding hearing should proceed.
