June Venters KC led Rhian Livesley in public law proceedings in a 25-day composite Final Hearing

June and Rhian represented the Mother in the hearing which included a complex fact finding exercise involving serious allegations which were being pursued contemporaneously in the criminal court.
Within the hearing, June and Rhian successfully argued that the court should hear oral evidence from the child complainant. The Local Authority sought permission to appeal that decision which was refused by the Court of Appeal, approving the response which June and Rhian had prepared by way of challenge.
June and Rhian successfully challenged the reliability and admissibility of the evidence from the complainant as well as from the police, whose investigation and questioning of witnesses they submitted had been in serious breach of the relevant guidelines, practice and procedure.
The case concluded with the Judge determining that the Local Authority had failed to prove, to the required standard, all the allegations against the Mother.
Their Instructing solicitor commented on June and Rhian’s conduct of the case as follows:
“June, you have been utterly amazing in this case. I have never encountered such tenacity in dealing with a case. I have been in awe of you throughout this, even when the client was not really engaging and helping her own case! “