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Hi
My friend is going to court soon. His ex has denied him all contact with his baby daughter since he left his ex a few months ago.
She assaulted him when he was trying to leave her. He reported it to police. She knew the system and was determined to stop him seeing his daughter if he left her. So she rang police and made false allegations of assault and serious domestic violence throughout the relationship. She had harmed herself so he was arrested and said he’d done it. Police treated him as the suspect throughout, even though he was the victim and had reported it too. She made up lies of him harming her and their baby in past. He was released on bail. Told not to contact her or baby for 30days. He didn’t.
Two days after he was arrested she retracted her statement because she wanted to get back together with him. She told police her reason for retracting statement was she didn’t want stress of going to court. Social services spoke to her only. She told them the same lies as she had to police. Didn’t mention she wanted to get back together with him. Social services didn’t do anything believing her to be truthful and case closed because she told them she had left him and moved away to her parents house so they concluded baby was now safe.
Since then she’s been pleading to get back with him but been denying him any contact, basically trying to emotionally blackmail him into getting back with her. Since he’s applied to court she gone back to lying and using the domestic violence card and child neglect again saying she worried for daughters safety.
Knowing he’d probably be going to court, to protect himself from anymore false allegations and non-molestation orders etc he recorded all phone calls she made to him. He made it clear to her that he would be recording. They talk for a few hours. They can be heard talking about his reasons for recording the calls in the recordings. So she was fully aware. And he has texts he can show to prove he had told her he would be recording phone calls.
He has 2-3 hours of conversations with her wanting to get back with him, but at the same time denying him all contact with baby unless he wants to talk about getting back together. In the conversations they talk about the arrest, and the false allegations from her. Throughout she refuses to give him any reasons why he shouldn’t be allowed to see his daughter even when he specifically asks her why he shouldn’t be allowed and what her so called ‘safety’ concerns are, and theres parts of the conversations where they’re talking about why arguments happened in the past. She never mentions DV or child Safety concerns. He talks about the whole police arrest, and how wrong she was for lying to them and her only answer to say she wants them both to forget it and start again.
If the court listened to these conversations we think she wouldn’t have a leg to stand on, all her allegations could be proven false and we think a decent barrister would rip her apart if it got to that stage.
He has a solicitor and will be using a barrister for hearings.
His solicitor has said the courts are unlikely to allow phone conversations as evidence. Is this true?? Even when she knew the calls were being recorded.
He also has a 10 min audio recording of her swearing and shouting at him during an argument a few months before they separated. It shows what a nasty woman she is. She was unaware he was recording that though. Can that be used as evidence??
There’s one more recording of a conversation with her and her parents, and him and his parents, where him and his family are only there to talk about arrangements for him to see his daughter, but his ex and her family only want to talk about getting back together and refuse contact.
If these aren’t allowed as evidence, it’s basically his word against hers. Surely that can’t be right?
Any thoughts would be really welcome. How can he get these audio recordings presented to the court so either the judge or some other person official listens to them. It’s the only way he can prove her lies.
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