THe thing I find hard to understand is that usually the british justice system tries very had to take account of mental illness in making its judgements. So even if someone were to be guilty of having Munchausens or Munchausen-by proxy then surely penalising the family is not and never would be the right answer.
I think also that we should not forget that it is the whole family who have suffered. I too have wept at some of the stories here and in the press about the loss that the parents feel they have suffered. However, the children have also suffered tremendously. On one level they have lost the benefit of being brought up by their own loving parents. On a worse level they may have been told that their parents (mother) has committed a terrible crime. What a burden to carry with you as a child.
IMO the family courts have been playing a very dangerous game. True justice in many ways depends upon transparency in decision making. That is to say that I could find out what judgements a particular court has made and understand the reasons for them. Under the guise of protecting child identity I can not do this in many of the cases heard by the family court. The family court is not a jury system but just one judge acting as supreme ruler. They have I believe opted for the easy option in too many of these cases - it is heinious to think that mothers in the depth of despair over the loss or illness of a much loved child have had to suffer imprisonment or in many cases having been cleared of a criminal act have then suffered the withdrawal from the family of their dearly loved children.
What fellow mumsnetters shall we do? How do we get Patricia Hodge to recognise that these families deserve their children back. Those that can, for some like Bunglie their children have grown up and they have lost their chance...