X County Council v Trimega Laboratories and Others [2013] EWCC 6 (Fam)

This is a reported case from the county court where alcohol test results that had led the local authority to reconsider its plan of rehabilitation to a mother's care were clarified by the laboratory following judicial direction. The laboratory made it plain that due to clerical error a number that should have been recorded as 0.2% was in fact recorded as 1.6% - the latter number putting it near to the borderline of where one might be concerned that alcohol was being signficantly misused.  It certainly had given rise to concern that the mother's misuse of alcohol was not a thing of the past.

The company apologised to the mother and paid wasted costs. (One may recall that in the Bristol case where there had been an error in test results the failure of the firm to apologise to the mother because they feared risking their 'commercial interests' was one the Court took a dim view of and that error has not been repeated.)

The child was returned to the mother's care under a supervision order and...

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