A father’s application to spend time with his two children has been dismissed after a Family Court judge raised serious concerns about his behaviour, emotional control and failure to engage with arrangements designed to rebuild contact.

The father had applied for a Child Arrangements Order seeking direct contact with his children, aged nine and ten, who live with their mother. There had been no contact between the father and the children since November 2023.

The case involved allegations of domestic abuse, concerns raised by the children themselves and a lengthy investigation by Cafcass and a Children’s Guardian.

The court heard that both children had expressed fears about their father and said they did not wish to see him. Reports before the court recorded allegations that he shouted, swore and behaved aggressively, including during an incident at the children’s school which resulted in police attendance.

District Judge Parker noted that while no formal findings of domestic abuse had been made, there had been longstanding police involvement and safeguarding concerns. The judge said the children appeared genuinely distressed when discussing their father and that talking about him appeared to retraumatise them.

Professionals involved in the case explored a number of options aimed at rebuilding the relationship between the father and the children. These included indirect contact through letters, telephone calls and video calls, with the possibility of progressing to supervised face-to-face contact if matters improved.

However, the court heard that the father repeatedly rejected or failed to engage with those proposals. He did not take up opportunities for indirect contact and was described by the Children’s Guardian as becoming agitated when alternatives to immediate direct contact were suggested.

The judge also expressed concern about the father’s conduct during the proceedings. His solicitors had ceased acting for him, and a court-appointed Qualified Legal Representative later asked to be released from the case after allegedly being met with aggression and abuse.

The father was given additional time to file evidence but failed to do so. He also failed to attend the final hearing, despite being provided with a remote access link and being contacted by court staff on the day of the hearing.

In his judgment, District Judge Parker said the father had adopted an approach that was “the complete antithesis of being child centric” and was consumed by his own emotional dysregulation. The judge described his anger issues as a safeguarding concern and said they needed to be addressed.

Concluding that the children’s welfare remained the court’s paramount consideration, the judge dismissed the father’s application.

The court also imposed restrictions on future applications. Until September 2026, the father will require the court’s permission before making a further application relating to contact with the children.

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Case Details

Case: W v A and Children (via their Children’s Guardian)
Court: Family Court at Birmingham
Judge: District Judge Parker
Date: 16 December 2025