Child of mother who drank excessively was not victim of crime, court rules

A 7 year old girl with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder is not entitled to a payout under the UK’s government funded criminal injuries compensation scheme, three Court of Appeal judges have ruled.

Lawyers for the girl, “CP,” argued that she was a victim of a violent crime when her mother’s grossly excessive drinking during pregnancy left her with learning, developmental, and behaviour problems.1

The judges ruled unanimously that “a mother who is pregnant and who drinks to excess despite knowledge of the potential harmful consequences to the child of doing so is not guilty of a criminal offence …