Social workers who snatched four-day-old baby (ITV London Tonight)

Social workers who snatched four-day-old baby (ITV London Tonight)

(The Story of Sarah, Ian Walton and their Daughter Crystal) (Our Story)

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Social workers who snatched four-day-old baby put her up for adoption over unproven abuse claim

Mums heartbreaking fight to get her daughter back.

A mum and dad have been told they will never see their young daughter again after she was snatched away at only four days old.

Tiny Baby A was taken from her mum by social workers who claimed the tot, who we will call Emily, was at risk in the family home.

Not because of the mums failure to care for her but because of a six-year-old unproven claim that her husband had injured his son from a previous marriage.

Yet, although interviewed by police, he never faced a criminal court over that allegation. And he has even been allowed unsupervised access to watch his boy grow up.

Now the High Court, in a devastating civil court ruling, has decided that a decision to forcibly adopt Emily now aged four away from her parents (who we are calling Tania and Stephen) must stand.

Revealing her agony for the first time, mum Tania said: I had my beautiful baby girl snatched from me at just four days old. Only a mother could understand the horror of that.

My only crime is that I love and trust my husband. I dont believe he could ever harm a child, and the courts have been unable to prove it. I have already missed years of Emilys childhood.

Stephen, in his 40s, married Tania, in her mid-20s, in 2003. Almost a year after their wedding Tania gave birth to Emily in hospital and they were overjoyed to take her home two days later. But they were to enjoy just two days alone with their little girl before she was taken from them. Social workers claimed there was a danger her dad would hurt her because of the case six years earlier.

Stephen had been married before and has a 10-year-old son, Jamie. When he was eight weeks old, Jamie was taken to hospital with a suspected brain injury and was found to have suffered bleeding behind his eyes. The episode left him permanently disabled, and he now has cerebral palsy. A medical expert said that he had been shaken viciously.

Stephen, who also has a 12-year-old daughter from the previous marriage, said: Doctors couldnt tell for certain what was wrong with Jamie. But one came up with a theory it could be shaken baby syndrome, even though there was no conclusive evidence.

He also said there was not enough evidence for police to bring a trial on the initial child-abuse allegations. But he said there was still no new evidence to undermine the original findings.

The couple have vowed to appeal against the decision, but they are running out of time. Once Emily is officially adopted, it is British law that she can never be returned to her parents even if they are found innocent.

Clinging on to each other in their living room, with walls covered in photos of Emily, the couple say they cannot bear to have another child.

Stephen said: My health is getting worse and I do not want to go through the agony of having another baby taken away from us by the state.

The couple are prepared to go to the European Court of Human Rights if their appeal fails.

But Stephen said: The European court cannot reunite us with our daughter all we would get is monetary compensation, which means nothing to us when all we want is our little girl back.