Kathleen Danby, a 72-year-old pensioner from Orkney, has been jailed for three months after hugging her 18-year-old granddaughter in breach of a court order.
The sentence was imposed by the Court of Protection in Birmingham. Mrs Danby was not present at the hearing where the three-month prison term was handed down.
Prior to the ruling, Mrs Danby had been banned from making contact with her granddaughter, who is 18 and has learning difficulties. Under the legal restrictions, she was permitted to speak to the teenager by telephone only once a month at a set time, with social workers listening in.
The Court of Protection judgment was kept secret from the public and described as draconian. Mrs Danby was jailed after disobeying the court order by seeing and hugging her granddaughter.
Legal background and court powers
The Court of Protection is a specialist court in England and Wales that makes decisions on financial and welfare matters for people who lack the mental capacity to make decisions for themselves. Established under the Mental Capacity Act 2005, the court has jurisdiction over care arrangements and personal contact rules.
Civil courts in England and Wales possess statutory authority to enforce compliance with their injunctions and welfare orders. Breaching a binding court order can be treated as contempt of court, which carries penalties including imprisonment.
Local authority social services departments frequently work under the direction of the court in welfare cases involving vulnerable adults. Social workers may be tasked with supervising permitted telephone calls or contact visits to ensure strict compliance with judicial orders.
Geographical and case context
Mrs Danby lives in Orkney, an archipelago located off the northern coast of Scotland. The court hearing took place in Birmingham, a major city in the West Midlands of England, located hundreds of miles from Mrs Danby's home region.
The secrecy surrounding the judgment meant that details of the hearing were withheld from public view when the decision was issued in June 2014. The court order specified strict limitations on contact before the penalty for contempt was enforced.
