Mother has no right to see her child

AN Oldham woman who repeatedly campaigned for contact with the daughter she lost to adoption has been told the law no longer considers her the child’s mother

In the six years since the toddler was taken from her, the woman has been locked in costly court battles with Oldham Council. At one point she sued the council for damages, claiming social workers were negligent and failed to give her the support she needed during her own difficult childhood.

Though she lost that case, Oldham Council was left to foot a £140,000 legal costs bill.

Top family judge Mr Justice Peter Jackson told her the child has only two parents, neither of them her.

When the adoption order was made in 2010, her parental responsibility for the child was extinguished for ever, he told the High Court.

The judge said mother and child were separated because social workers believed she couldn’t cope with parenthood. The mother never accepted the decision or opionion and demanded contact with the little girl.

She is currently restricted to sending letters to the child - through the council and the girl’s adoptive parents. The woman returned to court after the council refused to forward some of her letters and edited another.

She argued the actions amounted to a breach of hers and the girl’s human right to respect for their family life. The judge ruled the screening process was in the girl’s best interest. He said the woman’s latest bid for personal contact with the girl was “totally without merit”.

He ordered that she should pay the council’s unspecified legal costs in the case if she ever comes into money.