The Father
57.I have no doubt the Father loves the children enormously, and in his mind wants to do what he believes to be best for them. It was obvious that he had been deeply traumatised by the events of the last few years and was very emotional about the effects of what had happened. 58.I do think that he found it very difficult to put himself in the position of the girls, or understand their perspective and the impacts that his actions and choices had had on them. His focus was remorselessly on creating or preserving their relationship with him. He put that relationship above their relationship with each other, or with their mother, and justified this by suggesting that the situation was the Mother’s fault for not engaging properly at earlier stages. The Father sought to justify his decision making on the basis that it had been supported by professionals, such as Ms Barry-Relph. Although I understand the Father’s viewpoint, it is essential that he takes responsibility for his own decision making and the impact it has on his children. 59.He was adamant that X had been happy when living with him between March 2022 and 6 January 2023 and could not understand why she had absconded back to her Mother. He was plainly suspicious that the Mother and/or Z had been instrumental in X’s decision. He said she had been entirely normal on the Thursday night and Friday morning.60.He felt the LA had been too slow to act, and if X had been forced/persuaded to come home to him then that would have been the best option. 61.He said that he was opposed to X living with her mother because “X might not be strong enough to hold the line that she wanted to see me, A [Father’s partner] and [A’s son]”. He pointed to the fact that in the relatively short time X has been with the Hs she has said she would rather die than go back to the Father’s house, and she has said she no longer wishes to use the Father’s surname. This is all in strong contrast to the fact that she seemed happy and settled when in his care. 62.He also felt that the Hs had done nothing to promote contact with X and he was plainly concerned that they were not acting neutrally between the parents.63.Mrs Styles asked the Father what mistakes he thought he had made. He said he had always followed professional advice and could only say that he thought he had been a bit dismissive of the children’s worries.