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Ok so I was in family court yesterday. Brief history.
Divorced in 2013. Lived in Chester initially but I moved 30 mins away to Birkenhead. Ex not happy but I was able to see kids. Met a new partner (Kerry). Ex stopped contact. Intermittent contact whenever ex had a boyfriend or wanted to go out. Engaged to Kerry. Ex moved kids away. Was able to file 8 counts of DV and reported a break in at her home. Managed to wangle a move to the Midlands citing it was to be closer to friends and family to feel “safe”
.
I found where they moved to after 6 months. Initiated court proceedings. CAFCASS got involved after ex had made allegations as above. Police reported NFA on all stating that there was no evidence of any break in. So, in other words all BS. Ex made allegations I was a steroid seller. CAFCASS ordered supervised contact until the end of that investigation. Ended up in Crown Court for drug charges. 6 day hearing in front of a Jury. Found Not Guilty on 6 counts.
CAFCASS ordered contact to progress to overnight stays in stages and half of all holidays. Progressed well over the last year with two breaches by ex. One of which caused the District Judge to enhance contact via phone etc.
7 weeks ago my son was born. My kids due to stay that weekend to meet him. Ex stops contact citing that she received a message stating I was being accused of historic child [censored] abuse. Was interviewed by CAFCASS. Nothing on police files about wanting to speak to me. CAFCASS spoke to ex and apparently there is email correspondence with an unnamed police force starting I am under investigation.
In court, CAFCASS Officer stated that she would insist upon supervised contact until an investigation has been concluded. We all know this can take years. So, in other words, no reasonable prospect of supervised contact being extended to non-supervised at any time in the near future full stop. My exes solicitor refused to hand over any evidence pertaining to the allegations.
However, CAFCASS Officer also said that because I was abused as a child, this was an additional risk. At this point I must confess I became irate. It took security to remove me from the court. Not my finest hour but after 4 years, countless letters/calls, thousands of pages of documents, lawyers, money, stress and tears… I just broke completely.
Still no word from Police or any other authority.
Back in court on the 28th as the matter needs to be dealt with by a District Judge rather than a Magistrates.
Does anyone have any advice that they can give? I’m close to the edge on this. I feel I cannot cope very well but I am trying hard to keep it all together for my wife and my baby.
Thanks,
Vin
I would contact the independant police complaints commission and ask them how you find out about any ongoing investigation - I'm not sure whether they can help, but it's worth a shot - I'm sure there must be some procedure, and also, because you are being punished, whether there is anything you can do to seek redress (ideally, you want a letter to the court, rather than anything financial)
...I'm speechless! So an abused child poses a risk in the future! I would have asked for proof of that! I can't believe itand it's hardly any wonder you lost it.
It's better that's it's been moved up to a District Judge, you should get a more thorough and fair hearing as they are highly experienced in dealing with complex cases.
I think you just have to hold tight, ask the DJ if they can help with providing you with confirmation of this email and the name of the police force that are involved in the investigation.
Do some research on abused children going on to be abusers, I'm hoping you can leave the CAFCASS officer with a ton of egg on her face! Most importantly, you must keep your calm Vin.... apologise to the judge for your previous and out of character outburst.... it might help to prepare a brief position statement to take with you, to explain what has occurred and what you would like the court to do....keeping it child focussed,although I do think it would be appropriate to mention the inappropriate comments made by the CAFCASS officer.
All the best
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