A family court judge has told a father to consider apologising to his child as a ‘first step to rebuilding their relationship’. After making multiple orders in relation to contact, Her Honour Judge Owens in M v F & Anor finished her 30-page judgment urging the father to ‘consider what he has done wrong in the past’ and ‘even consider apologising’ to his daughter.
The judge was dealing with the latest proceedings in ‘a very long history of litigation’ concerning a 17-year-old whose parents had been in dispute about arrangements for her since she 18 months old.
The judge extended the exisiting orders, including indirect contact between the father and child referred to as A in the judgment, until she turns 18 as well as making a prohibited steps order (PSO) preventing the father from meeting or attempting to meet A.
‘There will be a penal notice attached to the PSO so that if F breaches it, he is again at risk of being found to be in contempt of court and may be committed to prison,’ the judge said. ‘That latter aspect is necessary and proportionate since it seems only the risk of being sent to prison in committal proceedings worked to secure some compliance with court orders by F.’
A non-molestation order against the father was also made.
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An order preventing the father from making further applications without the permission of the court was found to be ‘necessary and proportionate in the circumstances of a case where A has been subjected to litigation for most of her childhood,' the judge added.
The judge said there was ‘still time’ for the father to rebuild his relationship with A.
She added: ‘I would urge F to really listen to what he has now been told over a number of years by different judges and professionals and to consider what he has done wrong in the past, put aside his sense of grievance about the actions of M in the past, and to really put A first and engage in indirect contact with her as the orders permit. Perhaps, as I noted earlier, even consider apologising to A as a first step to rebuilding their relationship.’
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