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issues - case studies
case 6
Case number:///
I, //// of //// say as follows:
1. I make this statement in support of the application
filed against the widespread, systematic and persistent abuses
of fathers and children's rights by the UK Family Courts.
2. I am the father of two young boys, XXX born
28th October 1993 and YYY born 19th July 1997. I was married
to their mother ZZZ (nee ZZZ) on 31st August 1991 and divorced
from said on 16th September 1999. Since December 1998 the
children and I have been subjected to a system that at best
has failed us because of its woeful inadequacies and at worst
has been deliberately used to destroy our right to a normal
family life. The Court under whose jurisdiction I came under
was Worcester Family Court.
3. My first encounter with the Family Court
System was on the 22nd of December 1998 when an ex-parte ousting
and non-molestation order was served on me without any prior
warning. Despite being a loving father and sharing dual carer
responsibilities, with no criminal record what so ever, and
never being accused of any form of violence or misdemeanour
I was ordered to leave my house and not be a part of my children’s
lives. I was catapulted out of the boys lives on the basis
of unproven lies and fabricated evidence. The Family Court
have never sort to deal with this fundamental injustice and
in refusing to consider evidence have aided and abetted an
offender.
4. Much of the basis of the decisions surrounding
my son’s residency and my contact with them were made
on inaccurate reports from the Family Court Welfare Service,
(now known as CAFCASS). I was considerably disadvantaged by
these reports. I informed the case officer at thime that my
ex wife wished to exclude me from the children’s lives
and would try to alienate them from their natural father.
This information was dismissed with contempt.
5. I have also found myself coerced into agreeing
to certain compromises which were totally inappropriate to
the needs of the children and I, for example restrictive and
supervised contact orders at contact centres where there were
convicted criminals present.
6. During the last five years I have had at
least 18 different orders for prescribed contact with my sons.
None of these have ever been fully complied with by my ex-wife
or her new husband. Despite prescribed laws under the 1989
Children’s Act, compelling the Judges to address this
issue no action has ever been taken against my ex-wife and
virtually no attempt has ever been made to ensure Orders that
have been made with the children’s best interests in
mind have been adhered to.
7. At every instance I have had to concede contact
with my children and the frequency and duration. In 2000 my
case was heard before his Honour Judge Morris. Judge Morris
ruled on the basis of complete hear-say and inaccurate reporting
from CAFCAS that my eldest son “should only go on contact
visits if he expressed a wish to do so”. XXX was only
6 years old at the time and therefore should not have been
made responsible for this decision. I understand that the
lowest age where the Court will take the wishes of the child
into consideration is 12 years old. Clearly Judge Morris’
ruling cut across all convention was inappropriate and failed
to properly take into consideration XXX’s needs. I believe
that Judge Morris made this judgement not on the basis of
fact but because he was irritated by the fact that I chose
to be a litigant in person. His ruling effectively ended all
contact with XXX who I have now had no contact with since
that disgraceful event.
8. Since this time I have battled on to try
and keep the relationship I have with YYY alive. However,
now YYY is older he is experiencing the same pressures that
XXX lived through. I am fearful for our relationship, and
delays in hearing our case have severely impacted on the prospects
for YYY to enjoy a sustained relationship with his father.
My Action is on-going and I believe has only been maintained
with the help of my solicitors and my own personal resolve.
The case was helped initially by His Honour Judge Geddes in
1999 and again by a new approach taken by Judge Marston last
year, but at each time neither Judge saw the matter through
to conclusion and any momentum has been lost. Inconsistency
and the lack of the same Judge hearing the case is another
way that the system is failing us. One of the Judges: His
Honour Judge Cole, by his own admission never even read the
papers.
9. My own life and that of the children’s paternal grand
parents have suffered abysmally because the Courts refuse
to deal with issues as they should in statute. I feel that
my whole life is defined by a struggle to stay a part of my
son’s lives. I was once told by a Deputy District Judge
from the Worcester Circuit that: “If I liked Children,
I should get another woman and have some more, because the
Courts can do nothing to help you”. If this is the accepted
view of the British judiciary then the UK Family Court system
is morally bankrupt and should be completely disbanded and
something more appropriate put in its stead.
10. I believe that the facts stated in this
statement are true.
signed ////
Dated |
