County council ends pursuit of mum-to-be

Jan 15 2008 by Ben Guy, The Journal

A PREGNANT Northumberland woman who has fled the country to have her baby no longer has to answer to social services in the county.

Fran Lyon fled to Continental Europe last November after Northumberland County Council threatened to take her child, saying she was likely to suffer from a condition that causes mothers to harm their babies.

The 22-year-old, whose baby is due at any time, left the North-East after the social services ruling that her child would be taken from her 10 minutes after birth.

Just two weeks ago, the council was continuing to urge Ms Lyon to get in touch with officers as soon as possible. But yesterday the council confirmed that it had passed files relating to Ms Lyon, formerly of St Hilda’s Road, Hexham, to her new local authority abroad.

The care order was imposed after a paediatrician’s report suggesting she was likely to suffer from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a condition in which a carer, usually the mother, deliberately harms the person in their care to attract attention. The report said Ms Lyon should not be allowed to keep her baby because psychiatric problems she suffered as a teenager made her a threat to the child.

But since she left the country a psychologist’s report to the council has said she would not be a threat to her baby, who will be named Molly, and that she should be allowed to keep the child if she returned to the UK.

Despite other doctors saying she was fit to be a parent, social services refused to back down – until the latest recommendation was made by an expert in London.

Yesterday the county council said it now knew where Ms Lyon was living and had passed on responsibility for the case to the relevant authorities in Europe.

A county council spokesman said: “We now have knowledge of Ms Lyon’s whereabouts abroad. We have co-operated fully with the relevant authorities, who have now assumed responsibility for the case.”

Miss Lyon said she was now happily settled in a flat and had an excellent midwife.

“It is a relief to be able to put my experience of the UK system behind me. I am in touch with social workers and I have a positive relationship with them, which is very different to how it was in England.”