James Cracknell’s feat in winning the Boat Race at 46 after suffering a serious cycling accident in 2010 is extraordinary and inspiring.
Cracknell has also been an inspiration to campaigners for care for traumatic brain injuries through the likes of Headway. His success should not mask the difficulties that he and others go through in dealing with the effects of serious brain injury, however the book Touching Distance written by James Cracknell and his wife Beverly Turner provides a gripping account of the problems that families face and is recommended as background reading in the APIL Guide to Catastrophic Injury Claims edited by Grahame Aldous QC, Stuart McKechnie QC and Jeremy Ford of 9 Gough Chambers.
Much of children law involves the exploration of the facts relating to the child’s care and welfare, often coloured by the complex relationship dynamics between the adult protagonists. Occasionally, however, the facts which need to be established can be more fundamental. In John v Jane…
By Laura Hibberd Re E (A Child) (Special Guardianship Order: Public Law Proceedings) [2026] EWCA Civ 1167 Special guardianship orders are often thought of as the “middle ground” of permanence: more secure than a care order, less final than adoption, and with the child’s legal…
By Tim Parker KC The President of the Family Division handed down judgment on 29th September 2026 the decision in the first appeal following the introduction of Child-Focused Courts pilot. In Re C (Child Arrangements Orders; Domestic Abuse; Child Focused Court) [2026] EWCA Civ 1216…
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