@saab,
If the rest of Europe really is very much surprised how such is handled in the UK - the rest of Europe doesn't know how such is handled in their own countries.
What happens in the UK (and some other countries) is that the worst/bad cases are published, mainly in the tabloid papers, without showing the legal background.
If society wants it differently - change the laws.
But always you'll have borderline cases, on both sides of the spectrum.
(Here, in Germany, we have since months the discussion why children aren't taken out of families.)