Negligence appeal dismissed

A woman who was violently assaulted by her father when she was a child has failed for a second time to convince a judge Oldham social workers were negligent.

The 26 year old claimed a seven-month delay in placing her in foster care in 1994, when she was six, blighted her life and resulted in her own young daughter being taken into care.

She claimed the warning signs of child abuse were present and that social workers failed to act quickly enough to save her from psychological scars.

The woman, known only as Kirsty X, gave birth to a baby girl when she was 20, but she was judged unfit and the child placed for adoption.

Kirsty X sued Oldham Council, claiming social workers had negligently delayed removing her from her parents’ care and that she hadn’t been appropriate care to overcome horrific childhood experiences.

Last year her claim was dismissed by a judge, and yesterday at the Appeal Court in London she was denied permission to appeal against the judgment.

Lord Justice Patten said however strongly Kirsty X disagreed with the initial judge’s conclusions, he had made no error of law and had dealt with the evidence in an “entirely conventional manner”.