Hi,
I am upon my final hearing, after a small fact find, I had discovered that the mother made 3 lies by way of the children's medical report by obtaining this from the GP surgery. The lies are materially relevant, one which backs up the claim that I went to my children's house for medical reasons as my daughter was sick, when mother lied to court saying there was nothing wrong with her - I am fortunate enough to gain this vital piece of evidence.
My questions are:
1. Should I make a contempt of court order, AND
2. On the basis I went to mother's house, I was labelled as controlling (now with medical record it is clear she lied) which the NYAS worker clearly states that it because of this incident of me going to mother's house that I am controlling and need to go onto a BBR course. The worker says I should ignore making a application to the court and just accept it and forget about the new evidence.
My understanding is the following:
a. the worker has overstepped his duties to comment on a new C2 application which he was not invited to do so i.e. to stop making another application to court with new medical record evidence and just accept it.
b. NYAS is saying to me in a round about way that if the mother did a criminal offense i.e. contempt of court then I should ignore it. I think this is a gross dereliction of duty and furthermore allowing mother to lie and therefore somehow complicate to justice.
WHAT SHOULD I DO...? HELP!! 🧐
Hi. In my experience I doubt you would get anywhere trying to pursue the contempt of court issue.
As you have a final hearing coming up, you will have opportunity to cross examine the mother and the NYAS worker regarding the evidence from the GP and deal with matters that way.
I would avoid pursuing contempt of court but use the evidence to challenge the assertion that you are controlling and need to attend BBR as this could impact upon access to children etc. Whilst doing this you are leaving the judge to fork their own opinion on matters including contempt of court but moving on from it in order to progress and resolve matters..
thanks for the replies, they were very helpful, what do you make of the NYAS officer saying:
NYAS is saying to me in a round about way that if the mother did a criminal offense i.e. contempt of court then I should ignore it. I think this is a gross dereliction of duty and furthermore allowing mother to lie.
What do you suggest about his stance... allowing mother to lie and not caring about it 🧐
I think you need to pick your battles. NYAS are there to ascertain what it best for the children, not to get involved with this type of issue.
As stated, you are better off using the evidence in your final hearing and let the judge decide.
You might find NYAS give a different view under oath when presented with the evidence.
Whilst I appreciate that it seems awful that the mother has lied, the bigger issue here is getting an order in the best interests of the children.
If the evidence is that clear cut, a judge won't be able to ignore it.
Focus on getting the best result for your children.
You may also find that NYAS explain that the reason they advised you to not pursue the matter was to avoid/reduce parental conflict which is never in the best interests of the child thus negating your challenge as they will explain that as far as they are concerned your main priority is the child and not pursuing criminal proceedings against the mother..
