FA-2025-000111 - [2025] EWHC 2756 (Fam)

The background

The parties married in 2016 and separated in October 2021, about two years after D’s birth. D has lived with M ever since, and has not seen F face to face since December 2021.

In January 2022, M applied for protective orders under the Family Law Act 1996. On 10 February 2022, a non molestation order was made by consent on the basis of no admissions, to last for 12 months. In April 2022, F applied for a Child Arrangements Order. The Children Act and Family Law Act proceedings were consolidated. A further non molestation order was made by consent (again without any admissions) on 29 June 2023 to last until conclusion of the application; it was due therefore to end upon the decision of the judge in March 2025. In August 2023, the financial remedy case was heard.

In October 2023, Recorder Daley conducted a fact finding hearing over five days, and handed down judgment in November 2023. His core conclusions were:

He found none of F’s allegations against M proved.

He found that M had been the victim of four very serious instances of sexually abusive behaviour, including rape, between 2015 and 2017. He decided, after anxious consideration, that these related to a particular part of the couple’s relationship, rather than fitting into a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour within which sexual abuse was used to dominate and demean.

He found that F had been verbally abusive and threatening to M during the breakdown of the relationship.

He concluded that F did not exert coercive or controlling behaviour on M. He also rejected M’s case that she had been the victim of gaslighting, or that F had stalked her on two occasions in April 2022. A number of the findings expressly sought by M were rejected.

He rejected M’s case that F posed a sexual risk to D. He found, however, that some of F’s letters to D were inappropriate, such as saying “I wish your mummy could understand how important it is for kids to have both parents in their lives”.

Both M and D were and are, accordingly, victims of domestic abuse.