Distressing case of Poppi Worthington

Catherine Stephens, Associate Solicitor in the Family Department at Alsters Kelley reviews the distressing case of Poppi Worthington.

There is a complex relationship between the public sense of justice and the way the law and courts can work in practice. This week a civil court found that a father had sexually abused his daughter before her death. The father was not prosecuted and won’t be unless there is evidence which satisfies the necessary criminal standards tests for charging him with a specific offence.

The judge in this case examined the circumstances of the death of 13 month old Poppi Worthington because other children in the family may have been at risk if one of her parents or carers had caused her death, or perpetrated the sexual assault indicated by injuries found by the medical examination of her body.

These cases are shocking to us, and the apparent catalogue of mistakes by those investigating the child’s death seem incomprehensible. There will be a further enquiry into those investigations, and doubtless there will be a process of examining the child protection processes currently in place.

The judgement in this case, heard in private to protect the children who were the subject of the application, has been published to throw the spotlight on the failings identified by the judge.

This judgement has come from a civil court process, where the evidential requirements are very different to a criminal court. The family court can consider whether or not with all the evidence in front of the judge relating to – in this case- whether it was more likely than not that Mr Worthington caused the child’s injuries.  This is called ‘the balance of probabilities’

This judge decided that in his view the evidence he had before him showed that ‘on the balance of probabilities’ the father had caused the injuries to the child.