Acting for a father who, despite a long list of convictions, had been enjoying prolonged and regular contact with his children. The mother made the unilateral choice to stop contact, forcing the father to apply to the court for a child arrangements order.
At court, the mother reluctantly agreed to allow some contact provided it was not made into an order. John did not agree to this, and as there is no ‘without prejudice’ in Children Act cases, argued in court that the mother had made an offer then withdrawn from it.
The court argued that the mother should be bound to her offer of contact pending a s7 report by CAFCASS and return to court for a further hearing.