[Solved] HOLIDAYS ABROAD

Ah yes and i got 5 weeks in prison for a public order offence and failing to appear in court.

The only reason i went to prison was because i went not guilty and on being caught told the judge i would not do community service or pay a fine, thus they threw the book at me. This was in 2008 but as i cleared off its listed as being 2010 on the report ive just got.

I can take my kid on holiday but have to come back 5 days earlier and pay for 1 direct flight and the mother pays for the childs flight.

But ive got to get the Section 7 cafcass report done, is this likely to benefit me as my kids been with me for so long.

...if your child is happy and has a settled home life, good school attendance and is progressing well that will all help your case. If they court have ordered a wishes and feelings report as part of the S7 then the CAFCASS officer will arrange to spend some time with your child, either at school, at home or at their offices and very gently try and find out what she would like and how she feels.

These are the conditions for the CAFCASS report, anything that should worry me or out of the ordinary.

- The ascertainable wishes and feelings of the child

- The home conditions and suitability of the accommodation of the mother

- How the children will be affected by the proposed change of parent with whom the child lives

-The appropriate levels and mechanisms for time to be spent with the other parent given the distance between their homes

Well i got the CAFCASS report and it was in favour of my daughter continuing to live with me, and said that my daughter having to travel 200 miles every 2 weeks was too much.

Before the resolution hearing nothing could be agreed with their barrister, then we went into court and they claim that the mothers English is poor (bull5hit its fluent), and that when she spoke to the CAFCASS officer on the phone she was scared and didnt convey the extent of my racist nature. The report states she did not wish to see him in person and was happy to speak on the phone. Then bang their barrister states and i quote, "that i am an unfit parent to raise a mixed race child due to my extreme racial views".

The judge asked do you wish the child to be taken away right away to which they declined.

I have a 9 year old criminal record for racially aggravated public order, but it was an argument in a bank over bank charges, then when i walked out i pushed a top heavy water cooler over ... after i plead guilty the judge said there was not a racial incident but a mere argument about bank charges. And i have called her a racist name on an email 3 years ago.

To suggest i was and am stunned would be an understatement, i've raised my daughter all her life (6 years) and on my own for over 3 years, she is a delightful, happy, intelligent child even the mother agrees with this. The mother was more than happy for me to look after our kid when she buggered off for 2 years to go partying and husband hunting. And this wasn't brought to my attention last year when the fat mouthy boyfriend knocked her up meaning she came back to England last year.

If they are suggesting i am an unfit parent to look after my daughter as the main carer then surely they must be suggesting that i am an unfit parent to look after her on weekends and holidays.

Anyway final hearing is in June any tips or suggestions for this would be appreciated.

Hi there

This must be a worrying development for you.

The fact that the CAFCASS report is in your favour is good and the racially aggravated offence was such a long time ago, so hopefully the court will view it as historic. The email where you used a racist name against her can be argued that it was in the heat of the moment and not meant.

You can make the point that if you were racist you wouldn't have entertained a relationship outside of your own race, much less have a child together. Also that you wouldn't try to encourage your daughter to know her wider family and visit them in their own country either.

You should get the opportunity to cross examine her as its a final hearing, here you could ask if she felt you were unfit because she believed you were racist, why would she leave the child in your care for 2 years. Make the point that she agrees how happy and intelligent your child is and if you can show that you are thoughtful to your daughters mixed race and help her to celebrate her multi cultural roots, that might also be a good idea.

She is getting another shot at the CAFCASS interview on the basis she didn't meet in person despite the fact she turned this opportunity down but her barrister is claiming otherwise.Also they are claiming her English is poor and she did not convey my extreme racism enough in the telephone interview. This is also [censored] as her English is fluent.

I will have a barrister doing the cross examining.

As for promoting her heritage, i was the one wanting to take her to Thailand as she wanted to go, the mother was the one stopping me.

Do you have any texts from her that could show that she has a good command of English?

If she is insisting that she has poor English your barrister should raise this in court, your daughter may be mixed race but as she has lived with you for so long I'm assuming her first language is English, she may not even speak Thai, and if residence were changed this would be a problem for your daughter.

This bizarre case took a twist last month, we had another hearing prior to the scheduled final hearing in June regards the amount of travelling. Anyway in dicussions before court i got my barrister to offer them all the half term holidays and 50% of the main holidays to end the case on the day.

It was rushed but most points seemed to be agreed, as court didn;t finish until 5-30pm there was no time for the court order to be put together, but i received a draft copy the day after and she is expecting me to carry on living at my parents house indefinitely and she is claiming its my parents who are the primary carers. Obviously i said not a chance and they would not back down on this. So all agreements are off and 4 weeks after we're still waiting for the judge to tell us the next steps.

Quite obviously i would never have agreed to giving up so much holiday time, and having 3 calls a week which i know upsets my daughter, folding on the amount of riving i have to do which i can't afford.

Now they are demanding another CAFCASS report on my ability to look after Ella on my own (i'm not sure if they still want a CAFCASS report on whether i am too racist to look after my daughter).

I've spoken to the CAFCASS officer on the phone and he thinks its utterly ridiculous to expect to have such a clause in the court order, and both my barrister and Mckenzie friend think she is insane.

Anyway my daughter has come back from visits talking about her mother boyfriends guns, now i presume they are legal and for shooting animals, but i am not too happy about my daughter being in a house with guns .... would this be something to flag with the CAFCASS officer as the process is still running.

And to show how deluded my ex is, 3.5 months into a custody case she started and making soon to be shown false claims i have made it difficult for her to see her daughter she has gone on holiday for a month and is missing 2 visits. I truly could not believe she would do this especially as she is paying a solicitor for advise.

Has to be said this system is a joke, the state claims its all about the child, then they leave the door wide open for parents to tear each other apart should they so wish and she most certainly has thrown every made up insult possible.

Thanks for the update.

I agree with CAFCASS, your barrister and MF, such a draconian clause is totally unreasonable!

I would definitely flag up the guns situation with CAFCASS, You would assume he has them stored correctly, but they would check this I'm sure.

The month long holiday in the middle of the court case is strange to say the least, but it should work in your favour hopefully and is certainly something that your barrister can question her on at the final hearing.

All the best

In this mothers statement she is saying i grabbed my daughter and dragged her away from her soon to be step son when collecting her at the handover in February

There is plenty of CCTV there and lo and behold she didnt produce any for court in March or April as she's lying as usual.

Now for me to avoid such accusations in the future would the courts be able to arrange for handovers to be done at a Child Contact Centres.

As it would save my kid having to go through the stress of me and this excuse for a mother having to be in contact, as she's aware there is nothing but hatred between the 2 of us and obviously the little one will sense it.

Would i ask CAFCASS to arrange this or the courts, as they seem to be able to make things up as they go along.

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