A Derbyshire mother faked a court order so that she could regain custody of her daughter, resulting in a suspended prison sentence.
The woman – who cannot be named – presented an old court order that she had forged to police, claiming that she had custody of the child. However, the police were called in when the mother refused to let the child’s grandmother take the child away after a visit to her house.
The mother had previously had custody of the child until she went away for a short time, at which point she asked the child’s father to take over the care. He obtained a court order giving him custody of the child, Derby Crown Court heard. Prior to the grandmother’s visit to the child, the mother had applied for custody but was told to wait for a hearing.
Prosecutor Alex Wolfson, told the Derby Telegraph: “At some point between the visit to Nottingham County Court and the police turning up, she had photo-shopped an old court document on a computer and printed it out at the library.
“She told police that her only intention at that time was to deceive the mother-in-law. She was remorseful.”
The woman admitted perverting the course of justice and was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months.
Recorder Adrian Redgrave QC said while her offence was “serious”, he was “satisfied she was acting in the best interests of the child”.