Local authority involvement with a family in Leeds – which sparked a riot in the city – “was not, and never had been, about discrimination,” a judge has told a family court.
The hearing focused on an incident in April last year which led to a baby, who was one of seven children living in a house in Harehills, being taken to hospital with what turned out to be a fractured skull.
Police and social workers then became involved with the extended family and on 18 July 2024, four of the children in the house were removed over concerns they would be taken out of the country.
After the police arrived at the property, the area erupted in violence, with officers coming under attack, a patrol car overturned and a bus torched.
Reading her judgement after a three-day, fact-finding hearing, Judge Helen Trotter-Jackson said: “These entire proceedings have come about because of dishonesty of the parents.”
“That dishonesty led to widespread public disorder,” she added.
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In the judgment, Judge Trotter-Jackson highlighted the inconsistent evidence given by the adults involved in the investigation, saying the mother of the injured child gave what she saw as a “dishonest and deliberately evasive account” of how the child was injured, and why medical assistance was not sought sooner.
Earlier in the hearing, the boy’s mother said she now accepted she should have sought medical attention for her son sooner, on the day he was injured.
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She insisted she did not see any swelling until the next day, but told the court: “When the child had a fever and was agitated, I should have gone with him to hospital.”
The hearing also heard that three of the children involved have never been registered for secondary school.
