‘Baby FGM’ court case thrown out due to lack of proof

Thrown out: The alleged incident was said to have happened at London's Whittington Hospital
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Prosecutors have ruled out charges over the alleged female genital mutilation of a baby from London after deciding that a police file on the case contains insufficient evidence to put before a court.

The case, which is the latest failed attempt to secure a first ever conviction in this country for carrying out FGM, involved a British child of Malaysian descent thought to have been taken abroad and subjected to “type 4” FGM when only a few months old.

The child’s family is understood to have believed that the procedure, which involves pricking the clitoris, was legal because it is common and lawful in Malaysia, and to have initially admitted the act during a routine medical consultation.

A police investigation was carried out and a file sent to the Crown Prosecution Service setting out details of a potential crime under British legislation.

Prosecutors have now decided however that because the alleged offence involved inflicting a tiny prick on the clitoris there is no lasting mark that can prove that a crime has taken place.

Announcing the decision, a CPS spokesman said: “This case has been considered in line with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and we have concluded that there is insufficient evidence to prove that FGM had been committed or encouraged by these suspects. This is due to a lack of medical evidence of anything that could fall within the definition of FGM.”

Despite the new failure, police and campaigners remain concerned that some families are continuing to break the law on FGM out of ignorance that cultural traditions allowed overseas are prohibited here. Malaysia and Somalia are among the countries in which “type 4” practices illegal here are common and not regarded as FGM.

The parents of the toddler in the latest case, whose alleged mutilation is thought to have taken place several years ago soon after her birth, are understood to be “very law-abiding” people, according to one source. They had been alarmed to discover that they might have committed an offence.

FGM was first made in a crime in this country in 1985. Further legislation since then has also made it a crime to take a child abroad to be mutilated and closed loopholes which had thwarted previous prosecution attempts.

Only two people, a doctor and another man accused over the same incident at Whittington hospital, have ever been charged. Both were cleared after a trial last year at Southwark Crown Court.

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