Judge condemns council over missing boy

A warrant for the arrest of a teenager who has been missing for seven days was issued by police after West Northamptonshire Council social workers summarily removed him from his family home, putting him in breach of his bail conditions, the High Court has heard.

“He didn’t abscond from his mother’s address – you dragged him out” the judge, Mrs Justice Lieven, told the council. “The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.”

As police searches to locate the child continued, his mother told the judge that, in contrast to what a detective inspector had just said in court, Northamptonshire officers had repeatedly assured her that her son was not wanted for any offences, and that no arrest would be made.

The 16-year-old, who had pleaded guilty when charged with 11 offences earlier in February, had not been given a custodial sentence, but was instead bound over to live at home with his mother. Within hours, the local authority had applied to the family court to remove him to a secure placement in Bedford, for his own protection and that of his family, social workers said.

Once they had taken him away on the basis of a family court order that the teenager had no power to resist, his bail conditions were breached, and Northamptonshire police issued its arrest warrant. “He’s never been in trouble before, not arrested, not cautioned, never in trouble at school either, not even a fight,” his mother told Tortoise. “My son … had gone to court, pleaded guilty, and was trying to do the right thing.”

Since the boy ran away from his second secure placement in Tamworth, no-one has been able to locate him. Having heard the boy described as a risk to himself and the community, Mrs Justice Lieven – who has the power to make a “deprivation of liberty” order when no registered secure placement is available for a child in need – criticised the length of time being taken by the council to approve such an application for the teenager, who will require a safe place to live if and when he is found.

Tortoise has reported extensively on the dire shortage of lawful placements for children with difficulties that mean they cannot safely live at home. Applications to deprive children of their liberty have surged, as the availability of registered secure placements which can lawfully care for minors who need multiple adults to keep them safe is outstripped by demand. The teenager remains missing.

A spokesperson for Northamptonshire Police said: “Person-specific circumstances are always taken into account when measuring risk to and from an individual, and are used to inform the most appropriate course of action.”