The Child and Family Agency has been granted a 12-month care order for a young child who suffered severe burns on her hand from a pot of boiling water.
The court heard the child’s mother cancelled an ambulance called to take her to hospital on the afternoon of the incident and the child did not get to hospital until more than nine hours later.
The mother told gardaí she cancelled the ambulance out of respect for the wishes of her family who had said they would drive her.
The judge at a District Family Court in the northwest heard yesterday that gardaí were called to the hospital after medical staff became concerned that the severe burns to the child’s hand, and bruises and scratches to her legs, were non-accidental. The child was taken into care directly from hospital.
The court heard the mother, from a Roma background, initially told the hospital the child had been burned from a hot tap. She subsequently told gardaí she had placed the young child on the counter top in her kitchen between the sink and a boiling pot containing sweetcorn. When the mother turned her back to chop vegetables, the child put her hand into the pot to take some corn.
The mother said she lied to the hospital because she feared her child would be taken from her.
Non-accidental
The investigating Garda sergeant in the case gave evidence that the mother attended her GP about the burns and the practice nurse there called an ambulance for the child but, having made a phone call to her husband, the mother asked for the ambulance to be cancelled.
The garda said he believed the child’s injuries were non-accidental. He recommended the mother be charged with assault causing harm and child neglect, but the Director of Public Prosecutions directed a charge of neglect.
The court heard the mother pleaded guilty at the District Court and was sentenced to 11 months in prison. She served two months in prison but, after an appeal, the Circuit Court suspended the remainder of her sentence.
The garda told the judge he also had grave concerns about bruising on the child’s legs. He believed a third party had caused them and the mother had “no hand, act or part” in them.
He said the mother had told gardaí her husband’s family treated the injured girl differently from siblings because he was not her father. The “slight illegitimacy” weighed heavily on the mother’s mind, he said.
The judge noted that during Garda questioning the issue of forced marriage and a dowry was mentioned. He also noted it appeared the mother was acting on instructions from her husband or father-in-law when she cancelled the ambulance, which seemed “to override her maternal concerns”.
The garda agreed there were “definitely cultural elements at play”.
A report from a cultural expert was provided to the court. It highlighted the patriarchal nature of Roma culture and the role of women within it. It said as in many other strong patriarchal societies, “the life of Roma women is completely controlled by men”, Roma girls had less access to education and often married at a young age. It also said the oldest member of a family was its head, was highly respected and made decisions for the whole family.
The Child and Family Agency had initially sought a care order for the child to the age of 18, but following negotiation yesterday, the mother and stepfather consented to a one-year order instead. The child had already been in care for more than two years on foot of a series of interim care orders.
Supports for family
The judge said the child’s health, welfare and development was likely to be avoidably impaired or neglected if she did not remain in care. He noted the agreement between the parties that therapeutic interventions and supports would be put in place for the family with the ultimate intention of family reunification. He made a care order for one year.
He directed that a cultural expert be appointed to the case to make recommendations on the child’s cultural needs and these should be included in the child’s care plan.
He ordered that a psychologist with experience in non-accidental injury cases should carry out a risk assessment and an assessment of the child’s attachment to the mother and stepfather should also take place, both with input from the cultural expert.
He also ordered that access visits to the child would remain at the discretion of the agency, and the agency should pay for the parents’ travel expenses.
Asked by the parents’ legal representatives, supplied by the Legal Aid Board, to postpone a decision on an application for costs against the agency until a review of the case later this year, the judge agreed but said it was his view the money “all came from the same pot”.
