My ex stopped contact on 10 December last year. Applied for enforcement order and had first hearing which ex did not attend the judge adjourned hearing until April 13th issuing a specific issue and prohibited steps order with a penal notice attached ordering her to restart contact immediately. First contact was due to be last Wednesday however I turned up to pick my son up from his maternal grandparents as in the order but he was not there instead I was told to [censored] off by maternal grandfather. So this has been broken already.
I am due to pick my son up from his school this Wednesday and Friday the judge has put a prohibited steps order staring the mother is not allowed to interfere in anyway with me picking him up from school. She has been to the school previously and told them that I am not allowed to pick him up the school have told her that they need to stick to the court order but my ex ignored this and turned up anyway so I left not to cause distress to our child or a scenein front of other parents children etc
As she did not comply with the contact last week I suspect following previous patterns she will either continue to turn up at the school or keep him off deliberately on the days I am due for contact
Have you contacted the judge that made the orders?
You must contact the court and the specific judge and tell them what is happening, it seems that the judge has a strong handle on your situation and will be extremely angry that his order has been ignored and you have received abuse.
The court has the power to punish her, the very fact of putting a penal notice on it indicates that they may be prepared to consider a custodial sentence if the breaches continue. If it were me I would be asking for a transferral of residence if contact isn't complied with.
I've removed your sons name from your post, best to remain anonymous.
You should contact the school and ask to pick him up earlier, to avoid any confrontation. If the school want to comply with the order, this is one way to achieve it.
I attempted to pick our son up from school yesterday however my ex came 5 minutes early and the school let my ex take our son out the back entrance, I spoke to the headmaster and he is now in possession of a copy of the order and says he has recorded the incident on the school record system. I advised that my next contact was due tomorrow Friday so he suggested that I attend the school 10 minutes early.
I have emailed the cafcass officer and I am going to write to the judge involved, the next hearing is not for 6 weeks, I don't think they will bring it forward any sooner.
I have read various posts that braking a prohibited steps order is a criminal offence, but also read that the police say it is a civil court order.
The order does have a penal notice attached,
I think that my ex will turn up to the next hearing with new allegations, and my worry is that the court will not look at the breaches of the orders.
My Partner's ex has done the same, broken Specific Issues Order with Penal Notice last July. Despite going for enforcement, making an application for change of residency and gone through many hearings where a Guardian and Solicitor have been appointed, contact has still not happened. Cafcass Guardian has confirmed no reason why child is not seeing Dad and the order should be enforced so its now going to a final hearing which looks like not being heard till June/July. Statements were to be filed and served mid Feb. Our Statement is in but theirs is not and we've asked Mother's solicitor when we can exchange but he is ignoring us and refusing to answer any correspondence despite my Partner being told the only way to correspond is through him. Its absolutely shocking what these evil cretins and their obnoxious Solicitors get away with.
If you are on taking terms with the school , then turn up half an hour before pick up ( as per court order ), if the school ....... in its best experience decides to give your son to your ex ,, ensure they sign a document that this was there decision and take the ( dairy from poundland ) document back to court as evidence that you are complying as instructed.
If the school refuses to comply , take the drastic action of asking for police assistance........If they attend.... they will have to log the failed pick up... School should comply
Stay calm and stay away from Grandad and state hostilities when next in court....
hope that helps
At least the school are trying to help, as I said earlier, I think it's really important that you contact the judge involved , you have nothing to lose by telling them about the breaches and asking for an urgent return to court for new directions...the worse that can happen is that they will keep to the existing date for the next hearing. Try and get a letter from the school about what she is doing to stop you from collecting your son as ordered.
As the headteacher wants to facilitate contact, I would avoid calling on the police, as you quite rightly point out, this is a civil matter and it's highly likely they won't get involved, but they might attend to stop any possible conflict.
All the best