Lancashire County Council v B
[2000] 2 AC 147
Ratio Decidendi
For the threshold criteria under s.31 Children Act 1989, where the court cannot identify which carer caused the harm, it is sufficient that the harm was caused by one of the carers. The 'uncertain perpetrator' principle allows care proceedings to continue without identifying the specific abuser.
Hechos
A baby suffered serious injuries while in the care of her parents and a childminder. Medical evidence could not determine which carer caused the injuries. The question was whether the threshold criteria for a care order were met.
Resumen de la sentencia
The House of Lords held that the threshold criteria in s.31 could be satisfied where the court established that the child had suffered significant harm attributable to the care given by any of the child's carers, without needing to identify which specific carer caused the harm. To hold otherwise would leave children unprotected.
Citas clave
"The attributable condition is satisfied where there is a real possibility that the child's injuries were caused by one of the carers, even though the court cannot identify which."
— Lord Nicholls
Tratamiento posterior
Applied in Re O and N [2003] and subsequent uncertain perpetrator cases in care proceedings.