Convicted paedophiles have been granted contact with their children by family courts, an investigation has found.
The study by the University of Manchester found 75 children of 45 mothers had been forced into contact with their fathers despite their being previously reported for – or convicted of – child abuse.
All the fathers in the study had responded in court to allegations of abuse with a disputed concept known as “parental alienation”, in which they claimed the mothers had turned the child against them without good reason.
Dr Elizabeth Dalgarno, who led the research, said the concept was a “handy tool for abusers” and its acceptance by courts was a “national scandal”.