A bittersweet christening for the boy social workers couldn't take away

Brandon Webster was christened in front of his long-suffering parents Mark and Nicky and scores of family members, neighbours and friends in tiny St Martin's Church at Cromer, Norfolk.

The service last Sunday was a fittingly joyful symbol of the couple's High Court victory over Norfolk's social services, who wanted to take 18-month-old Brandon into care straight from birth.

But it was also a poignant reminder of the absence of their three older children, who can be identified only as Children A, B and C. They were seized by Norfolk County Council in November 2003 and forcibly adopted because of false claims of abuse.

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Mark, 34, and Nicky, 27, who fled to Ireland to stop Brandon being snatched at birth, this year mounted a successful legal challenge to Norfolk County Council's attempt to take him.

The High Court heard new expert medical opinion that tiny fractures revealed on X-rays of Child B were not caused by violent twisting and shaking, as social services believed – but were symptoms of scurvy, a now rare vitamin deficiency caused by the family GP's advice that the child should be fed on soya milk deficient in Vitamin C.

Nicky said: "We always find this time of year particularly difficult because we can't stop thinking of our other three children and what they will be doing at Christmas.

"It was lovely to have all our family and friends in church for Brandon's christening. But it was heartbreaking that our other children could not be there.

"We have no idea where they are or what they are doing – we aren't allowed to know. I like to think they are happy and settled."

The High Court case was strictly confined to Brandon. The other three children were taken after the Websters were branded child abusers in a family court hearing in 2004.

Now the couple are preparing to clear their name in the Appeal Court, which, if successful, would remove the legal basis for taking the trio.