Militant fathers 'target court staff'

Published on Friday 31 December 2004 12:01

A UNION representing family court workers today accused militant fathers of using intimidation tactics.

Probation union Napo sent a dossier to Children’s Minister Margaret Hodge outlining dozens of incidents of verbal abuse and physical threats.

It claimed the names of family court staff had been published on websites, their offices had been daubed with graffiti, locks super-glued, windows broken and banners unfurled on buildings denouncing them as "child abusers".

The incidents included one in August at the Norfolk office of the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), where a large, rotten fish was received in the post.

In October, an anonymous message was left on the answerphone at the Kingston Cafcass office saying: "Your days of abusing children and families are numbered - the day of reckoning is at hand."

And a Cafcass officer in the south-west was accused of being a "Nazi war criminal" because of her "bias against fathers". On a website "naming and shaming forum", Cafcass officers were denounced as corrupt and incompetent.

During 2003 more than 100 bomb hoaxes were received at Cafcass offices.

But Napo said Cafcass statistics showed only 0.8 per cent of fathers involved in family court proceedings were given no contact with their children.

Research by Napo last year showed that at the start of proceedings 42 per cent of fathers no longer had contact with their children and that fell to six per cent by the end of proceedings.

Harry Fletcher, assistant general secretary of Napo, said: "There is no evidence of any systematic bias against fathers.

"Indeed, the reverse is the case. However, the escalation in intimidation against family court staff has caused stress and is bound to lead to absenteeism.

"Fathers are rarely refused contact and only following a risk assessment on the children.

"Staff need protecting and the civil and criminal law must be used to contain this behaviour."