British couple cleared of abuse fighting for child adopted by new parents

A young British couple accused and then cleared of abuse charges says they will fight until their “last breath” for the child taken from them and later adopted by another couple.

Karrissa Cox and Richard Carter, both now 25, are embroiled in a custody battle for their child after a court recently cleared them of hurting their baby three years ago. The couple from Surrey, England took their 6-week-old to a hospital in 2012 because it was bleeding in the mouth. Doctors saw bruising and what they thought were fractures, and Cox and Carter were accused of child cruelty and neglect.

In a statement, the pair, both 25, said: "We took our child to the hospital seeking help and they stole our baby from us," Sky News reported.

Doctors recommended the child-- whose name and gender have not been revealed -- be taken into foster care. Later social services found new parents, after a family court ruled that it should be adopted.

Prosecutors dropped the charges against Cox and Carter this week, after experts questioned whether the child had fractures, and diagnosed rickets, vitamin D deficiency and a blood disorder that causes people to bruise easily.

Cox and Carter say they plan to appeal the new adoption, though legal experts say they have a tough road ahead.

"The longer they go through the appeals process, the harder it becomes to remove the child from the adoptive parents," Lois Langton, a London family law attorney said.

Cox and Carter had been allowed supervised contact with the child when in care, until the toddler was adopted last year.

Langton said the child, now about 3, "does not remember any other parents" than its adoptive family.

"We just want our child back," Cox told ITV news. "We are going to appeal this adoption and we are going to fight to get our child back, every step of the way."

Carter, an Afghanistan war veteran, added: "We will fight till our last breath.”

Michael Turner, lawyer for Cox and Carter, said Friday that "these innocent parents have been spared a criminal conviction and a prison sentence for a crime they never committed."

"Their life sentence is that they are likely never to see their baby again."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.