A SOLICITORS' firm has been praised for its defence of a father denied the chance to be considered as a carer for his child.
The child was placed in adoption by East Sussex County Council a day before the father's hearing to try to revoke the adoption order. The council's actions meant he could not be heard.
Eastbourne solicitor Lawson Lewis and Co helped the father tak
e his case to the Court Of Appeal where Law Lords described the local authority's actions as 'disgraceful'.
The Lords said the solicitors had represented their client well and could not have foreseen the council's abuse of power.
The father lost his appeal but Lord Justice Wall described the authority's behaviour as the worst he had encountered in a career lasting almost 40 years, claiming it had deliberately tried to prevent the father being heard in court.
A copy of the Law Lords' judgement will be sent to all adoption agencies in England and Wales so the case cannot be repeated. All judges who hear adoption cases will also receive a copy.
Barbara McDonald, the solicitor who represented the father, said, "Although this case involved a discrete point of law, we knew at once that the human rights implications for other parents caught up in the position of this father were far-reaching. On that basis alone, we were determined to appeal.
Although this father lost his appeal on the law we hope this judgement sends out a stark warning to East Sussex and other adoption agencies who think they can behave in this arrogant fashion in attempting to deprive parents of their right to be heard."
