Judge quotes lewd poem in ruling

LUTON, England, April 30 (UPI) -- A British divorce judge ruling in a custody case quoted a famous poem about parenting that included a four-letter profanity beginning with "f."

Lord Justice Nicholas Wall said in granting custody to the mother of a 9-year-old boy -- a decision that overturned a lower court's ruling giving custody to the boy's grandparents -- that both the mother and father had come "within a whisker" of losing their rights as parents, The Sun reported Thursday.

Wall said the boy had been harmed by the parents' "ongoing mutual dislike and recriminations" toward one another after their relationship ended.

The judge quoted Philip Larkin's 1971 poem, "This Be the Verse," saying: "They (expletive) you up, your mum and dad. They may not mean to, but they do. They fill you with the faults they had, and add some extra, just for you."

Wall said the quoted lines "give a clear warning to parents."