[Solved] Will he see his child again?

Hi there

this must be very hard for your partner, unfortunately the onus of proof is much less in a civil case, but nonetheless, for the judge to find in her favour without her submitting any proof of the alergations is a very bitter pill.

Will there be a further hearing? What has his barrister recommended? I would have thought that your partner could ask for supervised contact in a contact centre, to show that he is no. Risk to his child... and after a period of time, all being well, contact would be moved out of the contact centre and an increasing schedule of contact put in place to start the process of reestablishing a parental bond with the child.

A court may order indirect contact only, if this happens I would suggest your partner pushes for a timeframe and a review hearing to take place, to reassess and hopefully start the process of direct contact, whatever happens it will be a slow and painful process.

Your partner may be asked to attend a Domestic violence perpetrators course before he is allowed contact, , to be accepted on the course he would have to admit that he was violent, which would be tough to do if he is innocent.

I'm sorry I can't be more positive, i fear your partner will have many more hoops to jump through now.

All the best

Hi Mojo,

thanks for your reply.

To be honest he hasnt really spoken at all since the hearing, I think he is stil in shock and upset.

His ex has legal aid so he was self representing until someone mentioned how long it was going on, the fact his ex was able to submit 2 statements of lies and they didnt let me reply to them and the more seriousness of her allegations he used a solicitor for the fact finding, she was gobsmacked as she has said all along there is no substance to anything in any of her statements. I asked him this morning what will happen with his solicitor and he just said she will send him her notes. I dont want to press him about anything as its still so raw.

Will he have to go on a DV course even though he didnt do anything as you mentioned he will have to say that he did? With regards maybe seeing the child in a contact centre, he would be over the moon as he hasnt had any direct contact in so long. Who would he need to ask about a contact centre or with they just tell him on the cafcass report? I think the judge is writing up his report of the fact finding and sending it to cafcass.

Thanks again

Cafcass will have to make their recommendations and then there will be a further hearing to discuss this or it will go straight to a fully contested final hearing. You will have an opportunity at that hearing to challenge anything in the Cafcass reports or mother's statements.

Nobody can predict what course each case will take, but I would advise to take whatever contact can be offered and try to stick with it.

I am shocked that the court has made all of these findings, but it shouldn't mean the end of the road.

Best wishes

Thank you for your reply

Yes we are all shocked. It seems becuse his ex sits and cries throughout every court case they feel sorry for her. She has contested at every point she could. Made him do a drugs test which came back clear, made 3 of us have one of those police checks that drag on for ages, which all came back with no trace. It was her that had to be reminded to go on the seperated parents course, my partner rang as soon as he left the court and booked on the first one he could. He was told originally he would be able to have contact in a centre in december but they then said he had to wait to have the police check done because they didnt want him to have contact and then have to stop it incase something came back on the police check..which it didnt (totally understand why they sai that though as it was be confusing for the child). He is so scared the child has forgotten who he is as its been such a long time.

I just cant believe they found it fact as she has never shown 1 piece of 'evidence' its always been loads of new allegations in every report, all to do with her..she has said once he cant meet the childs emotional needs becayse he is emotionless (she descibed herself to cafcass as 'an emtional wreck', and he took the child to a drug dealers house. In all this time this is the only mention of their child. She has always said she doesnt want any other woman meeting their child but he never thought she would go this far. Unfortunatly he had his old phone stolen which had all of her vile messages on saying she will make the child hate him because she is so young she will belive her mum, she will make his life [censored] etc. Since this has all started she has even joined a church and manages to get it in to everyone one of her statements! Shes saying all of this went on for about 4 years, there is not 1 call to the police, not 1 call to a gp, she doesnt even have a friend or family member she can say she has mentioned 1 single thing to (she sees her friends and family everyday). He had proof for all of the financial things shes brought up.

Cafcass have said before they would like to attend a meeting between him and his child but Im worried they will side with his ex as everyone else seems to have done and this will not happen now after the fact finding result.

sorry for ranting

Rant away, that's what we are here for!

Was it a District Judge or Magistrates who made these findings?

Thank you! This forum is a god send!

I want to say district judge but I'm not 100% sure, I will double check with him later. Without sounding thick what is the difference?

Thanks

A magistrates is when there is a bench of people (I think three). It's not their full time job. Whereas with a judge it is his full time job and they are meant to know the law inside out.

Yes it was a district judge then, there was him, his ex and their solicitors and 1 judge

Magistrates are volunteers without any legal training or qualifications and a Legal Advisor supports them on the point of law. A District Judge will have spent many years as a lawyer or barrister before becoming a judge.

I'm surprised at this decision from a DJ, it wouldn't have surprised me if it was Mags!

It might be worth attending a Families Need Fathers meeting in your area where you should be able to get some extra free support.