Family's 'web of lies' led to unrest - court

Six people have now been jailed for their role in the unrest last summer

A family's "web of lies" about a child's injury was a key factor in the run up to a night of disorder in Leeds last summer, a court heard.

Trouble erupted in Harehills in July after police assisted social workers in taking four children into emergency foster care.

A fact-finding hearing at Leeds Family Court into how a baby in the family suffered a fractured skull concluded earlier, with Judge Helen Trotter-Jackson telling the court the child's parents and grandparents had "lied for months about that injury and the events that followed".

A decision on the future care of seven children in the wider family is expected next month.

The hearing was previously told the baby had been injured in an incident at the family home in April 2024, but it was not taken to hospital until the following day.

Medical evidence from doctors said the child could have been hurt by being dropped on its head on a hard surface, or through suffering a "blunt impact injury".

The court heard another child, who was related to the baby, had visited the house and admitted picking up and then dropping the infant when her hair was pulled.

On 18 July social workers and police officers were met with hostility when they tried to remove four children from the family home due to concerns they could be taken from the UK to Romania to avoid upcoming family court proceedings over their future care.

The disorder which followed saw a police car overturned and a double-decker bus torched, with six people since jailed for their part in the trouble according to West Yorkshire Police.

'Very serious injury'

"This case hasn't ever been about discrimination towards the Roma community," said Judge Trotter-Jackson.

"This case has only ever been about a tiny baby sustaining a skull fracture whose parents failed to to seek proper medical attention for that very serious injury and whose parents have lied for months about that injury and the events that followed.

"That dishonesty led to widespread public disorder."

Hundreds took to the streets during a night of unrest in Harehills

Judge Trotter-Jackson said "violence, harm and distress", including the family's children being in foster care for several months, would have been avoided but for the "extensive web of lies" they spun.

She criticised inconsistencies in the accounts given to police, social workers and court about the baby's injury and the aftermath, describing some evidence from the baby's parents as "deliberately evasive".

"I was also concerned about the collective memory loss about events which A, happened last year, and B, may be expected to have been memorable," she added.

"At times these parents have entirely lost sight of what was in their children's best interests - and that can't continue."

A hearing to determine a future care plan for the children will take place on 17 April.

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