• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

'Telepathy' of child used as evidence in abuse case

Dr_Baltar

Left Foot of God
Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
2,594
'Telepathy' of child used as evidence in abuse case

By John Forsyth and Gareth Rose

AN OFFICIAL report into the future of a child's welfare used evidence based on telepathy, in a move criticised by a sheriff as "dangerous".

A psychotherapist told a court an eight-year-old boy mentally communicated feelings of fear through his bad behaviour, leading her to believe he had been abused. The evidence was put forward by a children's reporter to support separating a baby girl from her parents.

Sheriff Alistair Watson, sitting in Kilmarnock, said calling Dr Debbie Hindle as an expert witness had been "diametrically opposed to that of the responsible investigator".

It came as a senior QC warned children's reporters, who protect youngsters vulnerable to abuse, are increasingly from a social work or administration background, rather than a legal one.

Sheriff Watson said: "The danger of relying on evidence of this (telepathic] evidence should be self evident, but apparently is not to the reporter or Dr Hindle."

Dr Hindle provided therapy for the boy, named in court as D, who had been abused by his mother's partner, DC, in 2006. Her evidence was used to support an application for child protection order for a baby girl born to the sex offender and his partner. Despite approving the order as the father of the child was a section one offender, Sheriff Watson took the unusual step of criticising the reporter.

He said: "Sadly, the interventions of clinical or therapeutic professionals have had disastrous results in notorious cases, and it was to be hoped that lessons were learned, such that this type of evidence would not be produced subsequently. Sadly, it appears the lessons of the past are easily forgotten."

He added: "The role of the reporter is a highly important one in terms of child protection, but it is also an important one in relation to the public interest, which requires that professional judgment be applied before the presentation of materials in court. To suggest that one might take three or perhaps four wholly unreliable pieces of evidence and ask the court to conclude that between them they form one reliable source is a most dangerous approach."

Allegations D had been abused first surfaced in 2002, when he was four. He was interviewed jointly by police and East Ayrshire Council social workers, who also came in for criticism from the sheriff for "a very poorly conducted interview".

D and two siblings were taken into care in 2004. The court heard their mother, JC, had "considerable lifestyle difficulties". The three were adopted in 2006. It was then that D, now eight, made comments to his adoptive mother that made her believe he had been abused.


continues...

http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Telepathy-of-child-used-as.6707586.jp
 
Eh? Where is the telepathy is communicating fear through bad behaviour? It's what kids do.
 
I don't see how that's been spun out of it either.

And if the child has claimed to have been abused and the alleged abuser is already a registered sex offender, i don;t see what's particularly unlikely about that.

The court heard their mother, JC, had "considerable lifestyle difficulties".

Is that the PC version of 'smackhead hooker' in this age?
 
Back
Top