so we went to the royal courts of justice yesterday. What a great experience, really enjoyed seeing Lord Jusitce Macfarlane, Lord Justice Sullivan and master of the rolls Lord Justice Dyson getting a grip not only on the case itself but also on the attempts by the other parties to re-step old ground.
There were some worried professionals in that court yesterday and so there should have been, after a 6 year battle, but specifically for the sake of the appeal the past 2 years, it was a positive hearing for us.
the guardians solicitor showed a complete professional integrity and out of line with his clients wishes he pointed out to the appeal court the wrongful actions of HHJ Tyzack. In fact he made our case for us. Mr Piers Pressde Qc, we thanked him in the court for being honest and we meant those thanks with sincerity.
Shame we can not say the same for the counsel for Leicestershire County Council whom after stating to us for so long the lower court judge was wrong, 18 months on they tell the appeal court the judge was right to do what he did!!
so a complete turnaround by both parties, at least one turn was due to the integrity of a QC who put justice at the forefront. Instead of the Leicestershire CC Counsel who transparently was seeking to avoid the inevitable civil claim for damages against the local authority for the wrongful removal of the child .. should the judgement come as we expect ... appeal upheld.
we haven't had the draft judgement at this point so we can not say with certainty we won the appeal but we are quite sure we have.
Unfortunately the reaction by the special guardians ( who may not be special guardians within a number of days ) was to remove the child's mobile phone and ban our home phone number from calling theirs, and refusing our telephone contact with the child. While we understand their upset at the outcome (even though not known yet) it is hard to see how stopping the child's contact with us can be fair on the child.
next step?? well, at the moment we wait for the draft judgement, then its full steam ahead to get the child home. As long as the has been upheld
It was a really good experience, for a couple that have self represented in their own case for so long it has been physically and mentally exhausting, especially for mrs baggaley who found the experience yesterday to be a number of different emotions, Mr Baggaley, loving the subject of law as he does simply enjoyed the moment, seeing the law in action at that level.
Our outstanding memory will be the look on the faces of a few professionals at the end of the day, priceless win or lose it was worth it,
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