This case related to two claimants, a mother and son; both of which were subject to breaches by their local social services in relation to their data being exposed to the mothers ex-partner (child’s father).

Our client had a number of children with her ex-partner; one of which has complex needs, including autism and anxiety.

There had been long standing feud between the two parents which prevented contact between them both, however a court order allowed the ex-partner to be entitled to obtain school reports of his child with had special needs.

Due to the nature of the feud between the two parents and the strict instructions outlined by the court; this meant that personal information of our client and her child/ren could not be exposed, such as home and school locations to protect their safety.

The breach occurred when an un-redacted special educational needs reports was emailed to the ex-partner; which disclosed the details of teachers, schools, references to hospitals and treatment etc.  All of which were prohibited in the court order.

This exposure of sensitive information, although the attempt of a re call of the email a week later had been requested; led to the mother of the child, to become increasingly anxious of the information exposed and now available to the ex-partner. This led to an increase of prescription drugs, with high concerns of a possible kidnap of her child/ren, as previous attempts had occurred in the past. Stress and anxiety increased for the child in question, making school attendance a worrying concern to commit to.

Acting on behalf of both of our clients (mother and son) mentioned above, we were able to secure a compensation sum of £2,500.00 for the family, due to the errors made by the London Borough of Lambeth.