Bristol foster girl, 4, "sent to live with 'pervert'"

A four-year-old girl was put into foster care with a man accused of downloading child porn in a case which Bristol City Council tried to cover up.

Until now, there was a ban in place on reporting how the youngster lived with the man for a fortnight after social workers found out that the man had downloaded child abuse pictures.

Mr Justice Baker, a High Court judge, has now ruled that the council was "unjustified" in trying to stop details of court's criticisms of its social workers from being made public.

As reported in The Sun newspaper, he said: "It is in the public interest for these matters to be published."

A court was told how the girl had been living with the foster carer for three months when police informed social services he was suspected of accessing child abuse images, The Sun reported.

On the same day, May 14 last year, the youngster - known as Child A - told her real dad and a social worker she had been "strangled" by another child at the home.

Despite this, she was reportedly still returned to the foster carer.

Her biological father, who was unaware of the indecent images allegation, then rang police. They told an emergency social work team.

However, the girl was not seen until the following day by her social worker, Sherilyn Pritchard. And, despite the warnings, she was not examined by a doctor and was again sent back to the home.

Social workers waited a further six days before deciding what to do and another week before removing the girl and another child from the house.

The foster dad, who we cannot name for legal reasons, committed suicide a day later, according to The Sun.

He reportedly downloaded images of child abuse in 2010, but the offences only came to light last year.

Magistrates who heard the case last October said Bristol City Council had failed to follow child protection procedures and accused social workers of not acting quick enough.

Handing down his judgment in the case, Mr Justice Baker criticised the council for seeking an injunction to block reporting of the case on October 10.

He said: "There is a danger that those who practise in the family justice system fail to give proper consideration to the Article 10 rights of the media. This must now cease."

He ruled that the media should be able to name the social workers in the case. Sherilyn Pritchard and Trevor Barnes were both involved in the girl's care, The Sun reported.

The girl is now in a new foster home.

Her biological father said: "I am livid [that] they put her where someone had been downloading child abuse images."

A spokesman for Bristol City Council told The Sun: "We are undertaking a thorough evaluation of practice, which will be reviewed independently."