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Hi everyone,
I had my first directions hearing today and am feeling very numb.
Firstly I arrived at the court an hour before the hearing and asked the usher if it was ok to have a Mckenzie friend present during court (I phoned the court 3 weeks ago to make them aware I would be using a Mckenzie friend) however I was refused one with no explanation given.
Whilst waiting in the waiting room my ex turned up with her current partner and they both started saying very loudly how I was a liar and how I would get what was coming to me etc......... The usher noticed this and came up to me and said "I can see you are being intimidated by these people, so would you like to wait in a private room for your case to be called"
Anyway we were called into court and the first thing my ex said was that I had phoned her last October and threatend to abduct my son (I have not had her number since Jan 2010 and she did not report this to the police)
She then went into detail regarding an alledged assualt on her in April (previous post)........ I informed the judge that all charges had been dropped as I had video evidence to prove she lied. She looked very shocked when I said this and as if to suddenly change the subject she then turned round and said that my son was scared of me and suffered from anxiety because he fears me. My son is 5 at the moment and due to my ex moving and not disclosing her new address (it took 2 years to track her down) I have not seen my son since he was 3. I fail to understand how this could lead to him being scared of me and my only belief is she cas manipulated him into fearing me etc.
The judge shrugged this off but I noticed cafcass write it down, the ex also noticed this and then went on to say that she felt my son needed to see a doctor as he was so scared of me!
This is not true and you will see from my previous post that when I served my ex the court papers he recognised me and reached out to grab my hand prior to the ex dragging him down the street.
I am now worried what yet another accusation will do as we will be getting the date for another hearing through the post over the next few weeks.
Anyway I am allowed to start sending letters to my son fortnightly (due to the length of time i have been absent from my sons life contact must be reinstated slowly) and the judge has said that at the next hearing in approx 3 months direct contact can start for a few hours every other saturday and will continue to increase until my ex and I agree on what we both want.
Does anyone know what CAFCASS will do as to the ex's current claims? I am more concerned that if my son does suffer from anxiety etc then this is more likely bought on from my ex's partner. He is a violent man and my ex has reported him on numerous occasions for DV namely strangeling her and i am concerned that my son may be subjected to this behaviour. I have also learnt today that my ex and her current partner are known to their local childrens services! Does anyone know if this is basicly social services? as this has also concerned me!
Thank you for you help in advance!
Hi,
Sorry to hear how tough it's been. Have you got a solicitor acting on your behalf or are you representing yourself? As far as I'm aware, the Children's Services are part of the Social Services Team. How did you find out this information about your ex & their current partner? Have you been keeping a diary of events & information you have found out, as this may help in the future.
Hi Rich,
Well firstly a big well done sir! One more step in the right direction 🙂
It will take time, but things will start to fall into place. Childrens Services are under the umbrella of Social Services yes, however, even though i think it means social services involvement, there is a big umbrella that Childrens Services could also mean.
I admire your apparent calmness with the intimidation element. If this happens again, you are entitled to approach the usher and request that the CAFCASS duty officer (there should be one on every day when there are childrens cases being heard) is present to hear the intimidation.
With regards to the information provided by CAFCASS i honestly wouldn't worry. If there was a concern as to this, then there would most likely have been a finding of fact direction on the instance of "abduction". You are right, the chances are the anxiety will be the fault of Mum in this instance, of that it doesn't take much mind to conclude.
Good luck Rich, and keep us informed 🙂
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