New report reveals 'awful' and 'frightening' cases of severe child neglect and sexual assault

As well as highlighting that parental drug addiction remains a major cause of care proceedings, the cases also highlight a growing number of children with special needs in care across the country.

Cases of children suffering from severe neglect, teenagers whose behaviour puts the public at risk, and a girl being repeatedly sexually assaulted when she absconded from care have been revealed in a series of new reports.

The long-running Child Law Project, which reports on child protection proceedings, has today published 77 new case reports to detail the kinds of cases that come before the courts.