“105. The fact that these incidents occurred, particularly the two I have gone through, in a way that exposed B to the father’s anger and abuse is very concerning. The fact that the latter three incidents were clearly ones during which the mother was pregnant is also, in my view, of significance. This was a pregnancy in which the father, himself, accepts the mother was concerned about the possibility of miscarriage, and there are messages between the parties which refer to her bleeding and it is clear that it was not an easy pregnancy. In those circumstances, the father’s behaviour is all the more concerning and he did not speak of those issues or those concerns in any way as being his own concerns. He did not speak about the mother’s troubles in that pregnancy as being anything that he was worried about. He did not, in his evidence, express any regret about any specific incident. He expressed no regret and indeed I am unclear how much he accepts that B may have heard but he certainly expressed no interest in B’s position and the impact of those incidents on B.. 106. In his final words to me, because, as is only right, I gave the father an opportunity to say whatever he wished to say by way of closing remarks, what he wanted me to think about, in particular, was something that he had prepared on his phone and which he read out to me. He said he had never wanted it to be like this and all he had wanted was to have a happy family life with the mother. He said he was sorry for the way he had made the mother feel. He said he was sorry but he had never put a child at risk, that G had been deprived of a normal, loving relationship with him and his family, that he had spent thousands of pounds pursuing this and that he would continue to do so because his focus is on G. He said the mother knows that G will be safe with him, so there was no point in all of these issues being raised. He did not want to say anything about the specific incidents or allegations either made against him or that he makes against the mother. 107. I asked the father what he was sorry for and what, if anything, he regretted. He said that if he made the mother feel in the way that she describes that he was sorry if that was the case but there was, neither in those closing comments or in his evidence, any acceptance of the fact that his behaviour has had the effect on the mother of upsetting her, frightening her, causing her particular worries in her pregnancy, causing her stress and causing her to undergo a scan on an emergency basis on the day following the incident in November 2023.”
“The mother, by contrast, was able in my view to look back on her past behaviour and the way she had, sometimes, for example messaged the father with the kind of language that she had used and she very clearly did regret some of that. She did not seek to minimise it. She did not seek to deny it or justify it or defend it.”
“Domestic abuse is harmful to children and/or puts children at risk of harm including where they are victims of domestic abuse, for example, by witnessing one of their parents being violent or abusive to the other parent, or living in a home in which domestic abuse is perpetrated (even if the child is too young to be conscious of the behaviour). Children may suffer direct physical, psychological and/or emotional harm from living with and being victims of domestic abuse and may also suffer harm, indirectly, where the domestic abuse impairs the parenting capacity of either or both of their parents.”
“41. By its clear terms, the Act provides the court with the broadest and most flexiblepowers to make welfare decisions. The powers, which are themselves a welfare checklistfactor, can be used individually or in combination. No two cases are the same and, whereorders are needed, judges should use the powers that Parliament has given them in theway that they think best meets the needs of the case. 42. At the same time, court orders represent an interference with the freedom of parents tomake their own decisions and must be used in a way that is proportionate to thepresenting problem. The interference must be no more than is necessary to achieve thedesired outcome for the child.”