Letter: Help for parents who mistreat or abduct their children

Sir: How might an adult who has committed no crime feel if he were to read a psychiatrist's report on his mental health on the front pages of a national newspaper? Did Sir Stephen Brown, the president of the Family Division of the High Court, consider 12-year-old Oliver Malkin's interests when he made public a child psychiatrist's report that Oliver is 'in a mess' and 'in danger of crossing the borderline and becoming clinically ill or even developing psychosis' (report, 8 January).

It is hard to see how such disclosure will promote the well-being and happiness of a child whose privacy and dignity deserve protection by the court.

Yours faithfully,

HELEN ROBERTS

London, EC1