FD24P00616 - [2025] EWHC 985 (Fam)

The Father gives a very different account of events in the period running up to 12 August 2024. The Father said:

“In relation to the picture the Respondent seeks to paint of our relationship in Spain, it is just a complete fiction and bears no resemblance to the reality and my own experience of our relationship. I accept that we argued at times during the relationship and ended up separating, but we then were able to co-parent the children together and I felt that this was working well before the Respondent took the children to England on holiday and decided to retain them there”

The Father also says that he is not an alcoholic as the Mother claims and does not take cocaine or have a cocaine habit. He says that he has never grown or sold cannabis, but he accepts that he used to smoke cannabis occasionally but says that he does not do this anymore. He says that he takes CBD sometimes to help him sleep but explains that this is legal in Spain and he can buy it online. The Father denies all of the allegations of abuse made by the Mother and suggested that the relationship broke down initially because the Mother had had an affair with someone but that he had been trying to mend the relationship with the Mother ever since.

One of the key features of this case is that the Father remains keen to redevelop his relationship with the Mother and, in giving oral evidence, he made it clear that part of the reason he wanted the Mother to return to live in Spain with the children was that he wanted to restore his romantic and sexual relationship with the Mother. In contrast, the Mother is adamant that she does not want to resume the relationship but this is something that the Father does not appear to me to be prepared to accept.

The Father accepted that he had sent the message cancelling the party and accepted that he had later changed his mind about this. He said that he only sent the message because the Mother was trying to invite too many people to the party and he wanted it moved to another location because it was growing too large to be able to take place in his house. However, there is no reference in the voicenote to the Father having concerns because too many people had been invited and that explanation does not appear to me to be consistent with the vituperative nature of the message. The Father says that he does not recall any meeting on 4 August and gave no clear evidence about how he came to change his mind about the party, save that he suggests that the Mother had reduced the number of people who were invited and so he was content for the party to go ahead at his house. He strongly denies that there was any conversation on 4 August about the children going to live in England and says that this is not something he ever agreed.

The Father’s evidence about whether he ever suggested that the Mother should go to live with the children in England was somewhat equivocal. He accepted that he had said to the Mother on occasions that she should go to live in England. He claimed that he never meant these comments to refer to the children and suggest they were only said then he was frustrated or angry and were never meant seriously. He said that he only said this on occasion to the Mother prior to August 2024 to “try and get a reaction and test her love for me”.