Case No. EWFC-92

15.The matter was listed today to deal with the urgent issues arising from the Section 37 report and the Psychological Assessment.16.I have read and carefully considered the whole court bundle, including various new and historic statements from the parties, and particularly the very recent global psychological assessment and Section 37 report. These, combined with the position statement of the Guardian, led to this matter being dealt with today as a matter of urgency – although it is important to note that father put the court and the mother on notice that he would be making this application at the hearing on 6 May 2022.17.The recommendations of both the Psychological assessment and the Section 37 report are clear, that there has been parental alienation on the part of the mother which will cause significant harm to the child and the child has already suffered emotional and psychological harm in the care of his mother. The Local authority recommend that the child should be subject to a Child Protection Plan and a case conference was planned for 29 June 2022. They also very clearly recommend a change of residence for the child.THE GLOBAL PSYCHOLOGICAL REPORT18.The report is at page D269 of the bundle and is dated 27 May and prepared by Dr NP Alwin (parents) and Dr GJ Milson (child). It is in my judgment a very comprehensive and detailed report showing considerable insight into the relevant matters. I will set out some of the most relevant parts, as very helpfully flagged by Counsel for the father, the solicitor for the child’s guardian and from my own observations:•The Mother ‘had presented an overly positive impression of her psychological development and current functioning’ that she ‘faked good’ and that she lacked ‘openness and frankness’ (page 272) •“I also have concern that the mother would be likely to consider that her views and opinions were correct and should be accepted and acceded to. Consequently, she would be likely to expect her child to accept and accede to wishes and demands. This could please a child in a difficult position if the children did not hold the same views as the mother and I have concerns that a child in that position would struggle to hold their own views given the strengths and intensity of the views held by the mother. As a consequence, I would have concerns that a child in that environment could experience emotional harm and have their lived experience misrepresented/denied. Consequently, I would have concerns the mother may struggle to recognise and respond to her child’s emotional needs and have difficulties prioritizing those needs above her own. I have a concern that, given her tendency to form short-time fractious volatile relationships, she would struggle to provide a secure and stable home environment”. (page 277)•“It was apparent throughout the interview with the mother she presented the father as a violent and aggressive individual who had sexually harmed the child. There did not appear to be any clear evidence that what she had stated was accurate. However, she maintained that perception of events was correct and that others had misrepresented the child’s experiences and minimised potential concerns regarding the father. Consequently, I formed the opinion that, whilst it was apparent that the father would be able to promote contact with the mother, I would have concerns that the mother, despite her protestations to the contrary, would struggle to promote the father as a parent to the child”. (page 278)•In addition, Dr Alwin comments: “Unfortunately, I did not form the same opinion with the mother and consider she would struggle to promote contact with the father and appeared to struggle to recognize the child’s need to form and sustain a relationship with both parents”. (page 280)•“I have concerns the mother has attempted to manipulate the child to make false negative statements regarding his father. I consider this to be evidence of the mother attempting to prevent the child from having contact with his father, which would constitute parental alienation”. (page 280)• “In respect of the mother’s ability to engage therapeutically to improve her understanding and acceptance of the professionals’ concerns, ability to change; unfortunately, I have concerns that the mother would not engage in such a process and, consequently, have concerns that at the current time she would struggle to make the beneficial change required for her to be able to provide safe and consistent care to the child”. (page 283)•“In my opinion there was no indication the father had acted in a manner that would put a child at risk of physical or emotional harm. There was no indication the allegations made by the mother were supported by medical and social services professionals and there was every indication that when the father was having contact with the child he was seen to provide effective care to the child. However, I have concerns the mother’s presentation of events and her evident fixation upon the child having been sexually harmed by the father, despite information to the contrary, would indicate she was acting in a manner that could cause the child emotional harm”. (page 281)•“I consider the father would appear to have worked constructively with professionals over time and to have demonstrated he could provide appropriate care to the child. There does not appear to be any clear indication of any risk he could pose. However, I consider the father would benefit from engaging in a psychological therapy to address his interpersonal issues, most notably his tendency to be intense and erratic” (page 283).•Dr Milson is very clear that the child is suffering emotional and psychological harm: “his current presentation is that he has not been given emotional permission to speak positively about his father because of the environment in which he lives where there remains ongoing hostility towards his father in the form of his mother’s belief system and, I believe, his older sister also. It is evident from the assessment of Dr Alwin that mother still holds highly negative views of the father which have not altered and the ability of her to promote the relationship with the father is significantly limited. The child’s presentation is in line with this formulation as his mother is of the primary emotional importance to him and he is in my opinion well aware of mother’s feelings towards father and well aware of his sister’s feelings towards his father and may not be able to hold on to any positives he may feel or remember”. (page 285)•“I believe the child is starting to develop a negative view of his father simply by being exposed to negative views from others in relation to his father. In my opinion the child’s current view of his father is not entirely of his own making (ie. from his own negative memories and experiences), it is the consequence of ongoing negativity from within the family”. (page 285)19.It was clear from the hearing and the mother’s submissions that she does not accept the assessment and opinions of the experts. Indeed the mother specifically accused Dr Alwin of lying about what she had said to him during their meeting. I do not accept her submissions on this point. She was informed by the court that she would have the right to challenge the assessments at any final hearing since the court would be making only interim decisions today based on the urgency of the matter.THE SECTION 37 REPORT20.This was prepared by Ms Cottam and is dated 16 June 2022. It is at page 354 of the bundle. Again I consider this to be a very comprehensive and fair assessment of the family. The recommendation is clear – there are grounds for a Child Protection Plan due to the risk of significant harm (which also applies to the child’s non-subject half sibling) and the child should reside with his father where he will have a more balanced childhood.•“It is a significant worry that the mother is continuing to report that the child has been sexually harmed by his father, despite the investigation from K Children’s Services finding no evidence of this and the initial allegation reported to have been made by the mother and not directly from the child. It is a worry that the child is potentially being led to believe that he has been sexually harmed and this could have a significant impact upon his emotional wellbeing and his mental health in the future”. (page 364)•Ms Cottam opines that “The allegations against the father have been made in order to alienate the father after he has questioned the child’s Birth Certificate and wanting to be named on this to enable him to have parental responsibility.” (page 365).•Ms Cottam also confirmed that ‘the mother has not been honest with the social worker on a number of occasions and this includes the reasons for moving to [present location]’ (page 365)•“The Local Authority shares the concerns of Parental alienation from the mother towards the father and given the mother’s fixation on the sexually harmful behaviours she believes the father has carried out and not being able to accept the outcome of the investigations completed by professionals that she is not in a position at this current time to positively support a meaningful relationship between the child and his father and that this contact would not be consistent and will not progress. It is acknowledged that Parental Alienation is likely to cause significant emotional harm to the child and will not allow his identity to be positively supported.” (page 366)•“the father does not pose a risk of harm to the child and there is no evidence to suggest this”. (page 366)•