Court takes draconian measures against father who made death threats

It goes without saying that a parent who engages in abusive behaviour is unlikely to be looked upon kindly by the court. Indeed, findings of domestic abuse are likely to result in the court putting significant restrictions upon that parents contact with their children.

But if the abusive behaviour is exceptionally serious then the court can take far more draconian measures, as a recent case demonstrated.

The case concerned a father’s attempts to secure contact with his 7-year-old daughter.

There had been various sets of proceedings, beginning in 2022. In the course of the proceedings the court made various findings of abusive behaviour against the father, in particular that in 2021 an incident occurred when he armed himself with a knife and made threats to kill the mother and her father.

But that was perhaps not the most shocking thing that the father did.

In the course of a final hearing taking place in April/May this year the father’s barrister reported to the court that, unhappy with the way the hearing was going, the father said to her that there would be “an honour-based killing”, that “they will kill my daughter”, and that “this is not the end of it.” He added that his “name will be in the papers” for what he intends to do “to the Judge, to the other barrister, to them.”

As a result of these threats the judge found it necessary to abandon the hearing.

The final hearing was re-listed to take place in December and, as might be expected, it did not go well for the father. The court made a number of orders, including the following:

1. That the child live with the mother.
2. That the father have no contact with the child.
3. That the mother be permitted to make all decisions and give parental consent unilaterally without reference to, without informing, and without consulting with the father.
4. That the father be prohibited from removing the child from her school, and from having access to her school records.
5. That the father be prohibited from accessing the child’s medical records.
6. That the father be prevented from making any further application without the court’s permission – this order to last until the child’s 16^th birthday.
7. Lastly, that the father pay the mother’s costs of the abandoned hearing, in the sum of £9,084.

The judge concluded his judgment by commenting upon the impact of abuse not only on survivors, but also on the professionals involved in these cases, who are only trying to do their job. He said that he hoped that these comments would cause the father to reflect upon his conduct for the future.

You can read the full judgment here.

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