Breaking: (thread) the official summary of the final judgement in the so-called 'Muslim fostering' case has just been released and it is devastating to the reputations of the Times newspaper and its reporter Andrew Norfolk. @pguk10 #MuslimFoster
It confirms the child is now, by court order, in the care of her Muslim grandparents in a Muslim country. The Times portrayed foster care with Muslims as inappropriate but in fact the child had already stayed with her grandparents before she was taken into care. #MuslimFoster
The Times's principal source was the mother. The official summary says: 'The child was removed from the mother’s care under a police protection order following the mother’s arrest for being drunk in charge of a child in a bar in a hotel near the mother’s home'. #MuslimFoster
The summary refers to hair strand tests carried out on the mother 'which showed positive for cocaine and chronic and excessive use of alcohol by the mother for the highly relevant period of September 2016- May 2017' #MuslimFoster
Between April 2012 and December 2016 – in other words most of her life – the child was cared for mainly by her maternal grandparents, who are Muslims who do not attend Mosque but who pray at home. Not the white, Christian background implied by the Times. #MuslimFoster
The official summary notes that, although the press were reminded of the need to protect the child's welfare, a police presence was required when she was transferred to her grandmother's care in London 'because of the numbers of press in attendance'. #MuslimFoster
It records the 'natural desire' of the mother to care for her daughter but says her position was 'not borne out on an objective assessment of the evidence'. #MuslimFoster (I will write at more length about this shortly at @Byline_Media)
