Drug mother has all 14 children taken into care

A judge has revealed that 14 children born to the same mother have been put into care because of her addiction to crack cocaine and other drugs.

Apart from the human cost of the damage to the children’s upbringing, the bill to taxpayers to look after the children is likely to exceed £2m. It also costs an average of £25,000 to hear each court case of care proceedings.

The judge, Nick Crichton, who removed the 14th child from the mother in London, spoke about the case to highlight the growing problem of children whose parents are addicted to drugs and alcohol.

He has identified a hitherto unreported phenomenon of women who respond to the emotional void of having their children removed or taken into care by embarking on a stream of replacement pregnancies.

Crichton said last week: “It is a human tragedy. I have had mothers say to me, ‘If you take away my child I will have another and I will go on having children until you stop taking them away’. It is perfectly common to be dealing with child four, five or six from the same mother.”