A two-year-old boy has been removed from his parents because his home was so full of smoke that it made it hard for him to breathe.
The toddler is set to be adopted after a health visitor raised concerns that he was being brought up in an unhealthy environment.
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Judge Louise Pemberton ruled that the child - who cannot be identified - should be adopted after a family court hearing [...]
In her ruling, the judge described how the two-year-old required an inhaler because of the smoke in his house.
'On entering the living room Ms Allen described being able to see a visible cloud of smoke surrounding the father and [the boy],' said the judge.
'He was asleep on the sofa and had been unwell for some time by this point. Ms Allen described the room as "so smoke-entrenched that I had difficulty breathing".
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'The parents seemed unable both at that stage and when the issue of smoking around [the boy] was raised by any other professional, to acknowledge or appreciate the concern and adapt their behaviour.'
[...] 'Ms Allen... had not come across such a smoky house in many years and never with such a poorly boy sleeping amidst the smoke.'
Nurse Emma Green reported that the boy's home 'often smelt very strongly of smoke', and was 'cluttered' with rubbish including empty cigarette packets.
Social worker Sarah Tomblin had said the little boy's toys and clothes 'smelt heavily of smoke'.
The judge was told that the boy's father had mental health problems, his parents had failed to engage with the authorities and their home was 'dirty, smelly and unhygienic'.
The father had tested positive for cocaine, while social workers saw what could have been drug paraphernalia at the house.
Judge Pemberton said: 'I am afraid that all of these matters lead me to an unavoidable and difficult conclusion that the risks to [the boy] in being placed with his parents are far too high.
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'Adoption really is the only option now available to [the boy], in my view, nothing else will do.'
She added: 'I want him to know that in my judgment his parents loved him very much and tried very hard but they were simply not able to meet his needs.'
The couple had opposed the local council's application to have their son adopted, and insisted 'we did not smoke in the house' - but the judge said she found this evidence 'hard to accept'.
She said the boy's father had accepted that there was 'thick smoke at the property'.
