Mum did not report it to anyone
." [my underlining]133.The only other evidence was from F, a neighbour of the mother. She said that the child came to see her on 3 January and said that the father bit her. She reported that the finger "was still a little red'. The mother then gave her version of events to F. F said nothing about bite marks.134.The mother also alleged that in January 2021, the father hit the child on the back, pushed and shoved her and tried to make her nervous. The father said that he would nudge her in a fun and loving way and denied behaving inappropriately.135.I have referred to the evidence of the mother's friends about the child's presentation and what she has told them. As I have already said, this is indirect in the sense that the child presented to them after being with the mother,136.The child had expressed upset about the father although I do not find that this was definitely because of anything he had necessarily done wrong. It is equally possible that the parental acrimony identified by social services was taking its emotional toll on her together. Obviously, his failure to nurture his relationship with the child did not help matters and may have contributed to some negativity.137.Overall, the deterioration in the parties' relationship requires professional consideration in the context of the child's negative feelings towards the father. I suspect that the ill feelings arising from the mother's view of the father have had some effect on her as well as the father's behaviour at times. This will all need to be explored.138.Outside of the specific allegations and looking at the parties' relationship as a whole, what emerges in my judgment is that the mother with a complex background borne of the trauma of her own childhood coming from a somewhat sheltered background who was maturing in the more secular world found herself with a man who believed that he had to run things his way and who lacked insight and behaved in ways that were at times unacceptable as I have said in my findings. I do not find the father to be malevolent though.139.In terms of the father spending time with the child, I do not feel that the findings I have made should stand in the way of him having a relationship with her. Where the court will need assistance from Cafcass is in determining how to ensure that the child's relationship with the father can be productive and what sort of parenting work is needed by both parties to ensure this aim.140.That therefore is my judgment which I shall hand down without the parties being present. The court will email the judgment to the parties.141.If any points arise from the judgment, they should be put in writing in ten days when I shall endeavour to deal with them on paper. Time for any appeal will run from the date the judgment is sent to the parties by the court.142.I would invite the parties to agree directions to advance this case towards a final welfare hearing. This will include Cafcass preparing a report. The alternative is for the parties to agree the appointment of an independent social worker if they can afford to do so. A draft order should be sent to the court in the next ten days. If directions cannot