Wrongly accused 'shaken baby' parents 'want to get on with life'

Carla Andrews and Craig Stillwell say they have not received an apology from Buckinghamshire County Council

A couple who had their baby taken from them when they were wrongly accused of injuring her say they are still receiving visits from social services.

Craig Stillwell and Carla Andrews, whose daughter Effie was taken into foster care, say they "just want to get on with their lives".

The court case was stopped after it emerged Effie has a rare medical condition which causes "easy bruising".

Buckinghamshire County Council said it cannot comment on individual cases.

The couple, both 23, from Aylesbury, said they have not received an apology after they lost their child for almost eight months and were taken to court charged with causing grievous bodily harm.

Mr Stillwell said council workers have twice been round their home since Effie was returned to them.

"I want to move on with Effie without having any more interference," Miss Andrews said.

Baby Effie has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV (EDS), which causes her to bruise easily

"I want to shut the door and tell them to leave us alone to get on with our lives because we have proved our innocence."

She said she thought their ordeal was over, but "they are still trying to get involved and they want to continually come and assess us".

Mr Stillwell was arrested at Stoke Mandeville Hospital and accused of causing grievous bodily harm after Effie collapsed last August, aged five months.

Effie's parents were permitted to see her just three times a week for 90 minutes at a contact centre.

The county council took the case to the family court, seeking to put the little girl into local authority care.

However, the authority's case was withdrawn when it was discovered Effie had the rare medical condition Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type IV.

In a statement, the county council said it "cannot comment on individual cases", but added its decisions in social care cases "draw evidence from multiple sources" and are made following assessment.