SKIP THE COUNTRY AND THEY WILL FIND YOU

[Alison J Stevens]

The Spanish authorities have made a dramatic intervention in the case of a British couple who fled to Spain to stop social services taking their son
into care.

Jim and Carissa Smith had sought refuge amid the parched mountain scenery and tall palm trees of Alicante. But on Wednesday their worst fears were
realised when Spanish officials, acting on information from Suffolk social
services, arrived at the hospital where Mrs Smith was still breastfeeding
two-week-old Jim Junior.

The baby is now in the care of Spanish foster parents. Tim Yeo, the couple’s MP, demanded that Suffolk County Council provide the legal ground on which
they passed “completely unfounded allegations” to the Spanish. “It is a very
questionable form of intervention by British social services,” he said. “In
what I view as a vindictive way they have chased this couple a thousand
miles away to try to inflict yet more distress.”

The Spanish authorities’ decision to remove the baby from the Smiths (not their real name) is a stark warning to the increasing number of British
parents seeking refuge overseas in an attempt to keep their families
together. Some fear that after scandals such as Baby Peter, social workers
are too ready to take children into care. Others feel that the secrecy that
still surrounds family court proceedings means they will never receive a
fair hearing.

Megan Coote, 21, and her mother Lorraine know well the uncertainty that now grips the Smiths. The fear that Suffolk social services would take Megan’s
baby in the delivery room is what drove them, too, to leave their old life
in Kesgrave and relocate to Spain. They and the Smiths are now neighbours on
the same bland, newly built estate of whitewashed villas outside Alicante.
Olivia Coote was born on February 15, two days before Jim junior.

As Mr Smith, a lorry driver, and Mrs Coote talked over the balustrades that separate their patios on Wednesday morning, they could have been any two
neighbours passing time. In fact, a tired and worried-looking Mr Smith was
leaving his dog with Mrs Coote before leaving for the hospital in Torrevieja
to be with his wife when his son was taken by Spanish social workers.

Suffolk social services claimed yesterday that they were simply following standard procedure and denied any prior knowledge of the action taken by the
Spanish authorities. But their words offered little comfort to Mr Smith, 41,
and his 32-year old wife. Poppy, their first child, was taken into care at
the age of 11 weeks in October 2008 after a psychologist gave Carissa a
diagnosis of Münchausen’s by proxy. This later changed to a diagnosis of
narcissistic personality disorder. Testimony at court hearings attended by
this newspaper suggested that there was “no risk” of immediate harm to the
child but she remained in care because of the possibility of emotional abuse
in the future.

The case caused Mr Yeo to accuse Suffolk social services of actions “tantamount to child kidnapping”. Speaking exclusively to The
Times yesterday, Simon White, director of children and young people’s
services, rejected these claims. “At the moment child protection is about an
assessment of the probability of significant harm happening to a child. It’s
not on the basis of proof that harm has actually happened,” he said. “I have
to implement the law as it stands.”

Mr White said the authority aims to keep children with their families as much as possible. They have about 800 children on child protection plans. Last
year care proceedings were initiated in 132 cases and just under half of
these children were returned to their families, while 38 were put up for
adoption. Mr White said that there had been an increase in children being
monitored by his department after the case of Baby Peter “but it’s not
disproportionate”. Reassuring words, but not ones that families such as the
Smiths would agree with.

When Carissa discovered that she was pregnant again, she and Jim decided to move to Spain rather than risk losing another child. They wanted to go
somewhere that was family-orientated but it was “basically a pin in the map”
that led them to the estate, which is a 40-minute drive from Alicante. When
the baby arrived early, Carissa stayed on in hospital to breastfeed him.
They were on the verge of getting the car seat to take him home when they
were told that the Spanish authorities were on their way.

Days earlier the Coote family had also answered the door to find Spanish social workers on the doorstep. They had come to check up on Megan and
Olivia but to the Cootes’ relief left after a few minutes with nothing more
menacing than a smile and the offer of baby milk if needed. The encounter
served only to confirm Mrs Coote’s belief that were they to return to
England the situation would end very differently.

Pale and young-looking for her years, Megan Coote, 21, had learning difficulties diagnosed as a child. When she became pregnant by her violent
ex-boyfriend last year, Suffolk social services conducted a psychological
assessment that highlighted concerns about her low IQ and inability to show
emotion. It concluded that she was unable to look after herself or her baby.

Angry and frustrated at the lack of support their daughter has received from social services in the past, Megan’s parents insisted that she should be
given a chance at proving herself and pushed for a place in the mother and
baby unit in Peterborough.

When it became apparent that Megan would not be allowed to keep the child, the Cootes put themselves forward as potential foster parents. They became
concerned after a viability assessment criticised Mr Coote, a successful
local businessman and father of three, for previously smacking his children
to discipline them. They were also told that the 12-week assessment would
not be able to start until Olivia’s birth, ensuring that she would have to
spend time in foster care.

Worried that her grandchild would vanish into adoption, Mrs Coote felt that she had no choice but to leave her four-bedroom house, her three dogs and
Dale, her husband of 25 years and go with her daughter to Spain. “I was
crying. I just kept thinking and thinking – if I go Megan’s going to have a
chance. If I don’t go, Megan’s going to lose her baby,” she said. “Then I
got up and I said to Dale, ‘We’re going’. My stomach was in knots but I knew
that I was doing the right thing.”

When asked to speak about extended family placements in general, Mr White commented: “We make sure that we are aware of all the potential relatives
who might be able to step in to create a safe environment for that child.
But if a family is in complete denial about the risks to the child, it can
be hard to get the guardianship process off the ground.”

The Cootes and Megan have not always had the easiest relationship. Mrs Coote recalled the difficulties they had with Megan when she became involved with
Olivia’s violent father and moved out. But the threat to their unborn
grandchild united them. The cupboards in their Spanish house are filled with
baby clothes sent by the family. Congratulatory cards line the mantelpiece
while the changing unit, cot and pram were brought out by Dale Coote when he
came to meet his granddaughter. One of Olivia’s great-grandmothers texts to
say good morning and good night every day.

Clearly vulnerable, Megan stumbles over questions but confidently handles her baby, warming up bottles, burping and changing her with the look of a mother
who has learnt to do it in her sleep. She shadows her mother around the flat
but smiles as she talks about how Olivia looks like her double in baby
photos. “I’m not going to let social workers get her,” she said. “I’m not
going home. I’m glad I’m here.”

John Hemming, MP and chairman of Justice for Families, knows of five refugee families in Spain. He believes the number of couples choosing to go abroad
will increase as families lose faith in British procedure. “You can see why
people want to get out. People recognise that you do not get a fair trial in
the family courts. The system is stacked against parents,” he said. “Going
abroad gives you a chance to have a family life.”

Mr Smith remains optimistic that the Spanish system will reunite him with his son. “We’re complying in every way possible. The Spanish social services and
the Spanish hospital have been fantastic. We’ve got nothing bad to say about
them,” he said. Regardless of what happens, his family are staying put.

The Cootes, too, are thinking about moving the rest of the family out to Spain. “She’s the point of it all,” said Mrs Coote. “This allows her to grow
up in the family. I’d tell other grandparents or parents to do it. It’s the
only way you’re going to get to bring up your child.