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Spurgeons and Dad.Info doesn’t investigate reports of abuse or neglect. But below, you can find advice on who to contact if you have concerns about a child or young person.
Reporting a concern
It can be difficult to know what to do if you think a child is at risk. It’s important to remember that if you’ve spotted things that don’t seem right, others will have too. Speaking up can make sure that child gets help as soon as possible.
The sooner you contact your local children’s social care duty team, the quicker they can act. They’re available 24 hours a day, and can make an anonymous report if that feels safer. If a child is in immediate danger, please call the police straight away by dialling 999.
Report child abuse or neglect to your local council
Use these links to get in touch with your local council:
Hi All if you can help me with this please, i am the applicant father who filed a c100 to court, i got the court date, i have received C1a domestic abuse form from the respondednt mother(needless to say all false and baseless accusations being made) my question is do i have to respond to the allegations made against me and sign it and send it to the court or to the respondent or simply ignore the form?
Response to allegations of harm - To be completed by the person in receipt of this form?
please advice what needs to be done
thank you
You do not have to but I would advise you respond to this make 2 copies one for your ex and one to file in court. How old are your children?
Best Regards
You did not mention if kids are involved. If they are not, what is the aim of your ex's order? Is it for financial maintenance or does she wish to put you behind bars or else?
Are the accusations supported by concrete evidence such as doctor's report or recordings of domestic violence incidents? If this is the case you need a solicitor to defend you. If on the other hand, it's the usual exaggerations and manipulations of past events as well as outright lies that women seem to become experts in immediately after separation/divorce, then you must defend your case by replying and answering in detail all accusations raised by your ex. In this case you can represent yourself to save solicitor fees. Without proper evidence it's unlikely your ex can do much. The judge can compare both your statements before the hearing and (without evidence) may simply dismiss the case. It gets more complicated if kids are involved as they can provide evidence against you.
Hi many thanks to you both for your quick reply- yes i have one year old little cute girl and her mother stopped me from seeing her, so i made an a c100 application, theres no police report, no social services involved, no doctors report, in fact i have a letter from doctors surgery where my child is registered telling me that i can access her medical records if i have to.
so my ex made these false allegations accusing me of giving her and my little girl emotional and psychological abuse and also accusing me of shouting at my little girl, thaswhat she is accusing me of domestic violence in c1a i received.
i had my phone interview with cafcass and gave them my side of story and they will be speaking to the opponent next week
so do i have to sign that page and send it back to court and her solicitor?
if i dont respond to it, will it go against me?
Thank you
hi many thanks for your reply, my child is one year old, so may i know if i dont respond to that form will it go against me? or should i reply back stating its all phantom charges against me, theres never been involvement of any third party like police, doctor social services, after i filed c100 she is making all these allegations
and also as im a foreign national she is using my visa status against me in the form, she has also applied for a prohibited order saying i might abscond with my little girl, even though im not aware if she even has a passport and moreover my ex says in the form that she is in the possession of my childs passport so why is she making this idiotic charge against me?is she has the passport then how can i abscond with my little girl?
moreover she is trying to divert the attention towards my immigration status in the family court, she is claiming if i restore relationship with my child and if im deported then she will be mentally hurt, so my ex is trying to divert the attention as she knows all her domestic violence charges are false against me and she has no proof to back her.
thank you
I take it you're representing yourself. In that case I think you should reply to your ex's solicitors and the court with your own detailed version of events. It would give the judge a preliminary view of both sides and put you on equal footing before the hearing. This is what I did in a similar case and it did not take the judge long to agree that I have the right to see my children.
hi many thanks for your reply, well i have managed to get hold of a barrister for the hearing( but im filing all paperwork myself to save the cost) i was told by my ex solicitor that i dont have to and the court done expect a statement at this stage, until asked?
but i will be taking a case chronology with me for the hearing with me.
so should i be responding to that 'allegations of harm' then? and file it to the court and to the the opponent?
thank you
yes i think you should respond to give yourself a chance that the judge knows your response before the hearing - read my previous message. but if someone else is representing you why don't you ask them for advice?
Hi, ok i will fill that form and send it to court and to my ex wifes solicitor, so should i be sending only one page?(page 9) or the whole C1A?
also i have a barrister but he is there only for the court hearing, im doing all the paperwork myself to save the cost.
thank you again.
Hi there
As your barrister said, you don't have to respond, but if you feel you would like to that's fine. Don't attach any evidence and don't go into too much detail as you can do the later.
When you made the application and submitted it, did you give the court copies for them to serve on your ex, or did you have to serve the papers to her yourself? If they did it then you should send the original and 2 copies into the court, one for the court, one for CAFCASS and one for the other party and keep a copy for your records. If you received it directly from her solicitor then you should send the original and one copy back to court and a copy back to her solicitor and again, keep a copy.
You can prepare a brief two page position statement for the first hearing, explaining the issues and what you would like the court to do...no more than two A4 pages. Hand it to the clerk to the court when you arrive and have copies for your ex's solicitor and the CAFCASS officer too, and keep one for yourself. There is a template for the format which I'll dig out and link for you. It must be brief as you should get an opportunity to provide a more indepth one later on.
Hi many thanks for your reply, no the court served her the copies of c100 and one copy electronically to the cafcass and then i received c1a and c7 from her solicitor directly, so im guessing i will be sending the response back to the court and one copy of it to her solicitor and keep a copy for me?
and will prepare a position statement as advised by you
thank you
That's what I'd do.
Here's the link I mentioned....