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Mum slams advice from expert Jul 6 2003
By Sunday Sun
A North mum has revealed how her family was torn apart when her two kids were taken away following advice by the protege of discredited expert Professor Roy Meadow.
She has not seen them for three years and her only contact is through the four letters a year she is allowed to send them.
Her tragic tale began in 1998 when she became concerned about the treatment of her son - who suffers from cerebral palsy and autism - by a North hospital.
She was referred to Professor David Southall, a paediatric specialist in Staffordshire.
Professor Southall studied under Professor Meadow and both were seen as experts in Munchausen syndrome by proxy, MSBP, a condition where mothers harm their children to get attention for themselves.
So-called "Meadow's Law" in relation to cot death - one is a tragedy, two is suspicious and three is murder - has come under fire following the Trupti Patel and Sally Clark murder cases.
The North mum claimed: "I only met Southall for 15 minutes but I later discovered he was accusing me of MSBP."
At another assessment she said he became very interested when told her mum had lost three children to cystic fibrosis 33-years earlier.
Later that year two social workers appeared at the family's home in Tyne and Wear. Her son was assessed then placed on the At Risk register and taken into care.
"The day he was taken away was the day I died inside. Being autistic he couldn't understand what was happening.
"He was constantly crying and asking to come home. It was terrible."
In early 1999, after they were told their daughter had to go before a Family Proceedings Court, the family went on the run before being tracked down by police to a house in Scotland.
The girl was taken into care, while her mum and gran were jailed for nine months for abduction.
The mum claimed: "The final hearing in the Family Proceedings Court was told that my mum was the major Munchausen person in the family.
"There was talk of the Crown Prosecution Service bringing murder charges against her."
Genetic tests have revealed the family have a faulty gene associated with cystic fibrosis.
The distraught mum added: "I haven't seen my children since. All I'm allowed is four censored letters a year.
"I will never stop fighting until I get my kids back."
A spokesman for Professor Southall said: "The duty of patient confidentiality prevents any doctor from commenting on the details of individual cases.
"Decisions in child protection cases aren't taken by any one individual.
"Cases are dealt with through Area Child Protection Committees who have representation and opinion from doctors, social workers, the police and other professionals."
Page 2: Mums treated 'like witches'
Mums treated 'like witches'
North MP and human rights expert Vera Baird has slammed court rulings that have led to hundreds of children being taken off their parents as "ducking-stool justice".
Professor Roy Meadow, of North Yorkshire, has often been called on to back up cases against mums accused of harming their kids by claiming they were seeking attention for themselves.
Their behaviour has been attributed to the controversial condition Munchausen's syndrome by proxy, known as MSBP for short.
Ms Baird said: "One of Meadow's criteria for MSBP states if a mother says she didn't do it then she is in denial. MSBP is ducking-stool justice.
"Just as a woman accused of witchcraft centuries ago was only pronounced innocent if she drowned and was guilty if she survived, those mothers accused of abusing their children are assumed to be guilty if they deny the charges."
Redcar MP and former lawyer Ms Baird added: "I cross-examined Meadow as a young barrister and I was extremely worried then by the evidence that he was giving about MSBP.
"In light of this I have written to the Prime Minister asking for a judicial inquiry into all MSBP cases so they can be reviewed."
Prosecutors are now contacting all defence teams involved in cases in which Meadow gave evidence as his testimony is no longer seen as reliable. We were unable to contact Mr Meadow, now retired, for comment.
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Chance remark cost me my kids Aug 3 2003
By Sunday Sun
A devastated North dad has revealed how a chance remark by a relative led to his wife being branded a baby killer and the eventual break-up of his family.
The man, who can't be named for legal reasons, has been inspired to speak out by the recent Sunday Sun exposé of people who have suffered because of controversial child abuse expert Professor Roy Meadow and his followers.
He instigated "Meadow's Law" about cot death which said, "one was a tragedy, two were suspicious and three is murder".
Two of the North man's first three children died of cot death syndrome in 1993 and 1997 aged eight months and four weeks respectively.
No finger of suspicion was pointed at the family until 2000 when social services in the region were investigating a separate case of two cot deaths.
When the parents were quizzed about that double tragedy, they told the authorities how the North man's family - who they were related to - suffered the same fate.
The father alleged that, at a meeting about the other family, Professor Meadow suggested the social services look at his family.
And he says that, as a result of this meeting their surviving child - a daughter - was placed on the Child Protection List.
He also claimed that in 2000, after they had a son, social services tried to stop them taking their new baby home.
Then when his wife missed a routine anti-natal appointment, they were ordered back to the hospital and were told their son would be kept in overnight.
However, the dad alleged: "Social services got an emergency protection order and they kept him for 70 days at the hospital doing tests.
"The doctors' report said there was nothing wrong with him. But the report's final summary said `considering the family's past history (we are) concerned about his safety'."
His wife's mum, who lived in Birmingham, offered to look after their children while a Family Proceedings hearing was arranged at the High Court in Newcastle in December 2000.
"The High Court judge made a finding against my wife stating that under the laws of probability she had suffocated one of the girls," he said.
"Yet there hasn't been a criminal case brought against her."
He claimed: "The police told us there isn't any evidence of foul play.
"My crime in social services' eyes was to stand by my wife, who I still believe to be innocent to this day."
At a final High Court hearing at Leeds in October 2001, the judge ordered the children to be sent to live with the wife's mum at her Midlands home.
Contact was reduced to one visit per child a month. Then in July last year the couple's marriage broke up.
Because it was his wife who had been accused of murder, the North dad hoped this opened the way for him to get his children back.
But he was to be bitterly disappointed.
"The only thing I could do, I was told, was take the case to court myself. I tried to get Legal Aid but I earned too much.
"I was told it would cost me £100,000 to fight the case.
"When I spoke to social services last week they told me I should just accept life as it is. I will never do that."
We were unable to contact Professor Meadow for a comment.
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Mum slams advice from expert Jul 6 2003 By Sunday Sun
