Judge scathing of Oranga Tamariki's handling of adoption case

A Family Court Judge says it is inexcusable that Oranga Tamariki, the Ministry for Children, insists on calling a mother a child abuser when the court had found she wasn't. He's also criticised Oranga Tamariki for removing the child from her home, contrary to a court order. He says that was almost enough for him to refer the agency for prosecution. Judge Stephen Coyle's comments come in a decision over a custody dispute between a child's birth parents and whangai adoptive parents. Our court reporter Ann Marie May has read the judgment and joins Susie Ferguson in the Wellington studio.