Former Soldier And Partner Fight To Get Their Baby Back

An Afghanistan veteran and his partner whose baby was wrongly taken away by social services say they will fight to their last breath to get the child back.

This week a criminal case proved them innocent of abuse but legal experts say it is unlikely they will regain custody.

The baby was 6 weeks old when Karrissa Cox and Richard Carter, who served with 2 Rifles, took it to hospital. They were concerned after noticing blood in the baby’s mouth after a feed. Medics examined the child and found bruising on the body, an X-ray showed what were thought to be fractures.

Karrissa said: "I think maybe we shouldn’t have taken our baby to the hospital – it would have been wrong not to – but if we hadn’t maybe we wouldn’t be in this situation now."

Days later the couple were charged with child cruelty and their baby was taken into care. Initially they were granted contact with their child but the family court allowed adoption to go ahead 7 months ago despite the criminal case against the couple continuing. 

Richard says he feels they have been treated like "animals" adding "they could have explained what was going on a bit more fairly, we were pushed in the dark."

The couple have always insisted they were innocent but it was only this week that the criminal case against them was dropped when medical evidence was reassessed.

It concluded the child had a vitamin D deficiency which causes infantile rickets and a blood disorder which causes bruising more easily than normal.

Karrissa Cox and Richard Carter say they are desperate to get their child back but legal experts say their chances are slim.