Something close to my heart....

And a fine example of British Law gone to pieces..... !!

Family Law and the decisions........

5-year "Breathing Space" for a two-year-old
In the case of "G" (A Child) [2003] EWCA Civ 489 in Northampton County Court, HHJ Mitchell recognised that prior to any contact mother "went to pieces", and so ordered a five-year bar on further contact proceedings concerning a 2-year-old child, on the basis that "everyone needed some peace and a breathing space."

Prison for giving his children Christmas presents
In 2000, a judge sentenced a father to four months in prison for giving his children Christmas presents during a scheduled contact meeting, in breach of the court order.

Seeking more then two hours contact is "being too possessive"
A judge who said in relation to a father who sought more than two hours contact per fortnight that "it may well be that the father is being too possessive."

One day's contact per year plenty for two young children
Lady Hale, in a judgment made in the Court of Appeal on the 13th February 2003, stated: "Father should be satisfied with 1 day of contact per year. Father should appreciate that any happy contact, no matter how brief, no matter how infrequent, is of benefit to the children."

If you want to see your children, don't go to court
Said one Judge, "The way to increase contact is to reduce pressure on the mother, contact improves when mother is not under pressure, bringing the matter to court puts mother under pressure."

If you see your children, make sure they don't enjoy it
In another recent judgment, the Judge observed that whilst the child enjoyed seeing the father, this also upset the mother. This in turn led to the child feeling guilty for having good times with his father. The outcome was that the father was prevented from seeing his child as it was judged not to be in the child's best interest.

Family Judges turn to violence
In a case in 2003 concerning an 11 year-old child who was refusing to see his mother, a Judge held a father confined in the courtroom while he sent Court bailiffs to snatch the child from his home. Within two minutes of his order being made, bailiffs forced entry into the house and spent 4 hours smashing down the boy's bedroom door before removing the child, later described as extremely traumatised by the experience, from the home.