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Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

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  • Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

    Hi,

    I am hoping that I can help a friend in her children's case. She has recently had a final hearing in which the judge awarded parental responsibility to her ex partner based on the social services section 7 report in which they committed a character assassination based on lies and omissions of facts. Clearly if she were to attempt to appeal it would be thrown out due to the damning nature (based on lies) of the report. I have suggested to her that as the social worker has lied in court that she should consider a private criminal prosecution of the author of the report, given that she has plenty of clear cut evidence of the lies told by the social worker in the reports. If the social worker is convicted of perjury then I would think she could then appeal to set aside the judgement (even if outside the given time limits) on the basis that the judgement was defective as it was based on perjury (the judge clearly stated in his judgement that he was basing his judgement on the SW evidence, he said that faced with believing my friend or the social worker, he would believe the social worker, as a result of this attitude (which was as a result of the terrible picture the SW had painted of her) the judge didn't even look at the evidence she had that the social worker lied, so never considered any evidence which would have proved that the SW lied. The SW was clearly biased against her from the start and fabricated evidence constantly to mould the "facts" to fit her lying story. I believe that proving the SW lied in court should be fairly easy, but on top of that she ONLY presented facts that supported her story and left out anything that contradicted it. So the question I need help with is whether a "lie by omission" would be regarded a perjury in a court of law. As well as telling lies, the SW also failed to include in the report very important facts which would have made a difference, not only to the tone of the report, but also to the outcome of the trial. One such fact that was omitted from the report was the fact that her ex partner had already accepted a police caution for "assault and sexual touching" against her personally. He then made false allegations against her, for which she went to court and was acquitted in 10 minutes by a jury. From the start of the report it featured the allegations against her as if she had been convicted and didn't even mention his actual conviction for the same crime! This is just one example of several very important omissions from the report. I would be very interested to hear anyone's opinions and advice. Thanks.
    Colin
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

    How i hate family law on issues such as this.

    He/she said this and that and that the child is always the one to suffer

    Criminal and civil liability both prohibit doing harm through acts or omissions, there can be no liability without fault.

    The problem anyone has is that both criminal and civil justice systems are not the same. Criminal liability is done on reasonable doubt where as civil liability is on the balance of probabilities

    Social workers get child protection orders and conclude if protection is necessary through the magistrates court, but the process is a civil action, not criminal. The same as enforcing council tax or applying for anti social behaviour orders.

    The magistrate will conclude on the balance of probability where the evidential threshold is much lower. It will be down to the judge to decide what he is being told is true or not in making the ultimate decision for the childs welfare.

    Depending on the childs age the judge has to take into account the childs own views and wishes as well
    Last edited by judgemental24; 1st November 2015, 15:10:PM.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

      But if the judge is being told a pack of lies by a SW with a hidden agenda and the judgement is based on that pack of lies, then there must be some recourse in law. Otherwise the judge will have made a judgement based on lies which could actually harm the children. If the SW can be proved to have lied in court to influence the outcome of the trial, then surely the court should take notice of this? In this case the SW lied big time and it can be proved. However, the lies themselves prevented justice because the judge believed the lies. Is it possible to bring a Private prosecution against the SW for perjury? If so, is a "lie of omission" also considered perjury?

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

        The problem you have is that the social worker will have an oversight policy

        Before any civil action is contemplated the case file goes to a case management stage. Senior social workers then go over the evidence collated

        It is a way of watching each others back since that Baby P travisty.
        Social Workers now dot their i and cross their T

        There will be things you are not priviledged to know

        I realise this is an emotive subject but i did six months with social workers as part of my Childrens Act studies and as a whole they do a fantastic job with limited resources

        The overriding objectives have to be the childs interests must come first, the damage can last a life time if they get it wrong

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

          Sorry, but I don't care what the SW's discussed between themselves, if it can be PROVED that they lied under oath in court, then they lied, simple as that. Do you suggest that they should be ALLOWED to lie? I am not suggesting bringing a civil action, I am talking about a private CRIMINAL prosecution against the lying Social Worker. If the social worker collecting the evidence only shows what they want to use to their senior social worker, they wouldn't know about it anyway! If they had carried out the assessment honestly then ALL relevant information would have been included in the report, but it wasn't. The damage CAN last a lifetime if they get it wrong and if they lie such that a judgement is made to place the children with a convicted violent criminal, then the risk of harm is high! If the child's interests are to come first, then it is surely ESSENTIAL that ALL the facts are provided to the court for consideration, not just to provide ONLY the information which supports the social workers chosen point of view!

          - - - Updated - - -

          I should also mention that the ex partner is not only convicted of domestic violence but also has convictions for dishonesty and theft. My friend is a respected GP!

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

            Has she been given leave to appeal the judgement?
            Has she put in a formal complaint to social services?
            Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.

            It doesn't matter where your journey begins, so long as you begin it...

            recte agens confido

            ~~~~~

            Any advice I provide is given without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

            I can be emailed if you need my help loading pictures/documents to your thread. My email address is Kati@legalbeagles.info
            But please include a link to your thread so I know who you are.

            Specialist advice can be sought via our sister site JustBeagle

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            • #7
              Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

              She has been refused leave to appeal, but to be honest any appeal would be a waste of time whilst the section 7 report is in force, as it is too damning of her (unjustly! There is not truth in the allegations they made of her, and they failed to report the full facts relating to the other side.). If any appeal court reviewed the case, believing the section 7 report they would reach the same conclusion; the only way I see an appeal working is if the social worker has been proven to be a liar and that the section 7 report is a work of fiction; this is not going to happen unless the Social Worker is prosecuted.

              She put in formal complaints to the Social services, but they just used this against her as well, saying that she couldn't prioritise the children and couldn't take their advice. And several other fictitious allegations to substantiate their lies and deflect the attention back onto her, instead of their lies. I believe that the problem stems from the fact that they made an initial assessment based on false allegations of her ex partner (he can be very charming), so they believed all the lies he told them and from then on chose to believe only him, and even if they did ever see that he was lying they chose to ignore it rather than admit that they could have got it wrong! Their initial assessment of him was that he was not a competent parent, but given their lies they then started to suggest that he had "grown", when in fact he still does nothing for the children, he employs a cheap au pair to look after them 24/7 because he doesn't want to be a "hands-on" parent. He is also a multi-millionaire; I wonder if this fact has anything to do with their bias in his favour too?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

                I know that the "Family Rights Group" are very good at this sort of thing - http://www.frg.org.uk/ - and there's a great forum where 'specialists' and people who need (and give) advice are there to help :nod:

                i wish there was more I could do to help
                [MENTION=8640]leclerc[/MENTION] might be able to give you some pointers on where to go/what to do tho' xx
                Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.

                It doesn't matter where your journey begins, so long as you begin it...

                recte agens confido

                ~~~~~

                Any advice I provide is given without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

                I can be emailed if you need my help loading pictures/documents to your thread. My email address is Kati@legalbeagles.info
                But please include a link to your thread so I know who you are.

                Specialist advice can be sought via our sister site JustBeagle

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

                  What I really need is advice on private criminal prosecutions and whether she can bring one against the social worker; I believe she has sufficient evidence. I also believe that is the only route to take which will have any effect. I hope there is someone here who can help with this aspect? Thanks.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

                    Leclerc (who I tagged) might be able to advise more there ... I wish you well xx

                    - - - Updated - - -

                    please remember ... both you and your friend are more than welcome here on LB any time xx
                    Debt is like any other trap, easy enough to get into, but hard enough to get out of.

                    It doesn't matter where your journey begins, so long as you begin it...

                    recte agens confido

                    ~~~~~

                    Any advice I provide is given without liability, if you are unsure please seek professional legal guidance.

                    I can be emailed if you need my help loading pictures/documents to your thread. My email address is Kati@legalbeagles.info
                    But please include a link to your thread so I know who you are.

                    Specialist advice can be sought via our sister site JustBeagle

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

                      Time to be blunt i am afraid

                      You have been refused leave to appeal as there is no error in law to justify any appeal

                      The right to bring private prosecutions is preserved by section 6(1) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985

                      In this situation the Department of Public Prosecution will determine that this is not in the public interest a private prosecution to continue.

                      They will simply step in under Section 6(2) under its own regulatory powers and withdraw any action through the Criminal Justice System

                      Put simply

                      You will be flogging a dead horse

                      Might i suggest contactng one of the above groups, fathers for justice etc or this will eat you up

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

                        Judgemental24 - You say there is no error in law, so are you telling me that a judgement based on lies is not an error in law? Why should proving that a social worker committed perjury to win a case NOT be in the public interest?

                        - - - Updated - - -

                        Thank you Kati for your kind post. :-) It is appreciated...

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

                          Originally posted by judgemental24 View Post

                          In this situation the Department of Public Prosecution will determine that this is not in the public interest a private prosecution to continue.

                          They will simply step in under Section 6(2) under its own regulatory powers and withdraw any action through the Criminal Justice System
                          judgemental24 - Please could you explain your reasoning for this statement; I am intrigued. Do you believe the CPS would somehow want to cover up the lies of a single social worker, or do you think they would be more interested in seeing that social workers don't resort to lying to "get a result"; whatever they believe that might be? Is it right that social workers; who are only human and are capable of making mistakes, should be able to make mistakes and then rather than admit they made a mistake, to lie to save their asses? Thanks for your insight. I'm fascinated to know what the general consensus would be too...

                          I have just been in touch with a lawyer specialising in private prosecutions and they have informed me, quite correctly I believe, that despite the fact that it would not be without it's difficulties; i.e., proving the lies beyond reasonable doubt and obtaining permission of the family court to use the documents from the family court, etc., that it would still be POSSIBLE to bring a private criminal prosecution, so I believe that is the route my friend will be taking. As for the CPS taking the case over, surely they would not do that just to "stop it"; why would they want to cover up the lying actions of a social worker? Surely it would be more in their interests to stamp out lying in court cases, especially from "expert witnesses". If this doesn't work, I'll eat my hat!

                          - - - Updated - - -

                          Also, if it was not at their expense, why would they object? (The CPS that is). In addition to all that, isn't there some duty that, unless they have good cause to stop it, if they take over a prosecution that they should continue it?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

                            Colin

                            No disrespect but when every other word in your statement says "Lies"
                            True objectivity has been lost.

                            Lies as such are subjective on individual state of mind

                            I simply cannot converse with someone who has a closed mind to all possibilities

                            Sorry

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Social Workers Lied on Section 7 reports

                              When someone say "X" when you can PROVE it is "Y", but "X" achieves their purpose in court, what do YOU call it?

                              Comment

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