Pieces still missing from Tom Phillips inquiry - academic
An academic expert argues that the exclusion of Family Court proceedings from the inquiry into the Tom Phillips case is a significant oversight. The inquiry recently identified multiple failures by government agencies in managing the case of a father who abducted his children.
Why it matters
The case raises critical questions about the efficacy of child protection agencies and the transparency of the Family Court system in high-risk domestic situations.
An expert on family violence says it is indefensible Family Court proceedings were excluded from the government's inquiry into the Tom Phillips case.
She says the government should be looking at reinstating protective mechanisms that were stripped out of the Care of Children Act in 2014, and she is "a little sympathetic" to police, with a caveat that she doesn't usually say that.
"It's just really hard for me to know whether we should be stringing them up by their toenails or not when we just don't know what came out of the Family Court."
Phillips was shot dead by police a year ago, after nearly four years on the run with his children.
Government ministers apologised on Tuesday after the damning inquiry found multiple failings by authorities including information sharing and following up certain leads.
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