How I stood up to power

TINA

We took legal action as a last resort when my learning-disabled teenage daughter Lauryn was left without schooling or support during lockdown.

Lauryn has autism and severe learning difficulties – she needs routine and structure to keep her contented and calm.

When lockdown happened, her school closed and all her other activities and support instantly stopped. Lauryn couldn’t cope being stuck home all day, and became uncontrollable.

To keep her safe, we had to agree for Lauryn to heavily medicated. I was heart-broken.

The education authorities wouldn’t listen, so we started legal action, reminding them they have a duty to act in children’s best interests.

Lauryn is now back at school and our challenge in accessing respite goes on.

It will be a long time before she fully recovers from all the disruption she faced, but without judicial review my daughter could never have started to return to the kind of routine that she needs.

Daniel

Without judicial review, my bright and sporty daughter would have dropped out of school and would not now be in her final year of university.

Emma has a serious medical condition called narcolepsy, which made it hard for her to study or socialise. The usual treatments didn’t work, but NHS England wouldn’t let her have an alternate drug recommended by doctor.

Emma became depressed and isolated from her friends.

As a last resort, we went to court, where the judge ruled Emma should have the alternative treatment.

Emma’s narcolepsy is now well-controlled, and she has been able to get on with her life.

Joe

I used the law to get my medals back, when I was kicked out of the Navy after 18 years because of my sexuality.

I knew the way I was treated after serving my country for so many years couldn’t be right, so I started legal action against the Ministry of Defence under the Human Rights Act.

The MoD agreed they were wrong, gave me back my medals – and have now introduced a policy to make sure LGBT veterans are treated fairly

Magda

My six-year-old son, Ian, loves his school and has lots of friends – but without judicial review, he might not be getting any schooling at all.

Ian has autism. As his mum, I knew he’d need extra help to make the transition from nursery to school – but the school didn’t have the resources to meet his needs.

Ian couldn’t cope with the demands of the classroom without support. He found school overwhelming and his autistic behaviours escalated.

The head teacher restricted him to only attending for an hour a day.

With Ian’s whole education at risk, I began legal proceedings. After that, Ian was given the extra support he needs from the Education Authority and is now happy and settled at school.

Stewart

My elderly mother-in-law, Eliza, needed judicial review after the council wrongly refused to pay for the costs of her care.

When she was in her late 80s, Eliza sold her house and went into a care home. For four years, she used the proceeds to fund her care, but eventually her money ran out.

Selling her family home had been a big step for Eliza and she had been careful to think it all through.

Taking into account government proposals to put a cap on care cost, Eliza worked out she would be able to give her granddaughters money for a deposit on a house.

But the council accused Eliza of giving away the money just to get out of paying for her own care. Her careful planning and desire to help her family was being used against her.

My wife tried everything to change the council’s mind. She went to the ombudsman twice and repeatedly explained what the true situation was. None of it worked.

It was only after starting legal action that the local authority admitted it was wrong and agreed Eliza was entitled to have her care paid for.

Trevor

In August 2019, armed police officers burst into my home and that of my colleague, fellow journalist Barry McCaffrey, and arrested us both in front of our families and neighbours.

Dozens of police officers searched our homes and offices, following a documentary we had produced about the unsolved sectarian murder of six men in 1994.

The police wrongly claimed that leaked confidential information revealed in the film had breached the Official Secrets Act.

We used judicial review to challenge the police action and the court ruled that the searches were unlawful.

Judicial review helped us defend the right of journalists to protect sources and publish information in the public interest.

The Police Service Northern Ireland later gave us an unreserved apology and paid substantial damages.