A judge, Justice Eleanor King, told a mother from Powys, Wales, that she
can’t give her newborn twins the names she chose.
The mother attempted to name her twins “Cyanide” and “Preacher.” She
said she believed “Cyanide” was a pretty name for a little girl with
positive implications since it’s the poison that killed both Hitler and
his follower Joseph Goebbels. She also argued that she had the right to
name her own children whatever she wanted.While Justice King acknowledged that “Preacher” wasn’t as bad of a name
as Cyanide, he ruled that the name ‘Cyanide’ could cause emotional harm
to the child in future.
King said:
“It is hard to see how…the twin girl could regard being named after
this deadly poison as other than a complete rejection of her by her
birth mother.”
The twins, who are now 8 months old, were reportedly conceived of rape.
They were placed in foster care, along with their three half-siblings,
due to the mother’s history of mental illness and drug and alcohol
abuse.
Social workers from Powys County Council took the case to the British
Appeal Court. An injunction had previously been issued to prevent the
mother from formally registering the names.
Justice King said:
“This is one of those rare cases where the court should intervene to protect the girl twin from emotional harm,” said King.
Justice King ruled that the children would not be named Cyanide and
Preacher, she decided it was in the best interest of the twins to be
renamed by their half-siblings and not their mother.
Source: Metro