[2019] IEHC 15 - Ireland
16 January 2019
Judge: Donald Binchy
The case follows on from [2015] IESC 12.
H (Children) (Appeal: Case Management: Part 25 Expert of Treatment) [2019] EWHC 237 (Fam)
21 January 2019
Judge: David Williams
Mother of three children appealed unsuccessfully against Judge Levy’s earlier decision not to consider a psychotherapist’s recommendation of transfer of residence from the father to her. Judge Levy had ruled that the psychotherapist had been instructed to provide therapy, not to act as a Part 25 expert. Laura Briggs, instructed by Setfords, represented the mother. Neither the psychotherapist nor the independent social worker were named in the judgment. I am confident that the psychotherapist was Karen Woodall.
Re E (A Child: Termination of Contact) [2019] EWHC 132 (Fam)
29 January 2019
Judges: 1st case Simon Thorp; appeal Justice David Williams
Expert: Jennie Duprey
Judge: Robin Bedford
Expert: “Dr B” - presumably Mark Berelowitz
Francesca Wiley instructed by Helen Fitzsimons Family Law for the father
CS v SBH & Ors (Appeal FPR: 16.5: Sufficiency of Child’s Understanding) [2019] EWHC 634
18 March 2019
Judge: David Williams
A girl wanted to live with her mother, who was accused of parental alienation. The Cafcass guardian disagreed. The girl was refused permission to instruct her own solicitor.
Barrister for Cafcass: Richard Jones
Cafcass Guardian: Andrea Juravle
Parental alienation expert: Mark Berelowitz
Family therapy: Anna Freud Centre
29 March 2019
Judge: Williamson
Experts: Derek Blincow and Hessel Willemsen
Reported by the Transparency Project, Family Law Hub, and Family Mediators Association, The Guardian, and Woman’s Hour.
The maternal grandfather is Michael Phillips, author of the website, Hessel Willemsen Reviews. He was able to give the mother’s side of the story to Metro newspaper.
In December 2019 the mother, Penny Phillips, failed to return the boy to his father and stepmother after a holiday. They are still in hiding. This was reported widely, including by the Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Metro, Guardian, BBC and ITV.
3 April 2019
Judges: Andrew Longmore, Peter Jackson, Peter Coulson
Psychologist: Jo Stevenson
Father’s claim of parental alienation dismissed in appeal of [2015] EWCA Civ 1025.
8 April 2019
First judge: Robin Tolson; Appeal judge: Andrew McFarlane
Children’s guardian’s barrister: Anarkali Musgrave of Coram Chambers, instructed by Sophie Burchett at Duncan Lewis Solicitors.
Cafcass guardian: Mrs Beer
Family Law Hub: “An order had been made transferring the boy's home to that of his father in Northern Ireland, because maintaining the placement with his mother and grandmother would cause him emotional harm. The situation did not rise to the level of parental alienation, but the child was unable to speak positively of his father in the maternal home. The mother appealed, arguing that there had been procedural irregularity, the decision to transfer residence was premature, and the conclusions on the balance of harm were wrong or insufficiently evidenced. Sir Andrew McFarlane, President of the Family Division, found that none of the challenges made on her behalf had been sustained. The appeal was dismissed.”
Re: L and the New Presidential Approach: Tips and tactics in parental alienation and intractable hostility, Anarkali Musgrave, Resolution
N.B. This is the notorious Robin Tolson who told a woman in an unrelated case that she was not raped because she did not physically fight back.
The solicitor from Duncan Lewis who instructed Anarkali Musgrave was Sophie Burchett, who is the solicitor who failed to check Melanie Gill’s qualifications and regulation. She lists it as one of her notable cases.
12 April 2019
Judge: His Honour MacDonald
Order for summary return under the Hague Convention of the child to the father in Israel after the mother abducted him to the UK, claiming that he and the stepmother were alienated the child from her.
15 May 2019
Judge: Sue Williscroft
Experts: Joshua Carritt-Baker and Judith Freedman
The judge criticised Dr Carritt-Baker for diagnosing parental alienation and recommending a transfer of residence without seeming to read or consider the evidence of domestic abuse and severe risk to the children, given that the father had repeatedly threatened suicide, including to the Child Maintenance Service, and had hinted at the possibility of killing the children too. She preferred the evidence of psychiatrist, Dr Judith Freedman and ordered indirect contact.
18 July 2019
Judge: Teertha Gupta
A (Children: Parental alienation) [2019] EWFC B56
24 September 2019
Judge: Stephen Wildblood
Experts: Mark Berelowitz, Karen Woodall
Family Law Hub: “HHJ Wildblood QC decided that this heavily anonymised judgment should be released for publication, because it was in the public's interest to see badly wrong things could go in cases of parental alienation. There had been a failure here to identify the problem before the damage was done, and early intervention was essential. Indirect contact was of limited use in such cases. The extent of the children's alienation from the father had been underestimated, and now, following a failed transfer of residence, he had no contact with them at all, and had withdrawn proceedings to prevent further distress. In this hearing HHJ Wildblood QC gave the local authority permission to withdraw their public law proceedings.”
Dad gives up eight-year battle for kids he ‘clearly loved’ after being alienated by mum, Conor Gregory, Bristol Post, 5 November 2019
Louise Tickle, Transparency Project
A (Children) [2019] EWHC 2334 (Fam)
25 September 2019
Judge Andrew McFarlane conducted a fresh nine-day fact finding hearing after the Court of Appeal ruled that Judge Michael Keehan’s fact finding was flawed. The three eldest of the four children, aged 17, 15 and 13, were permitted to directly instruct their own solicitor, counsel and leading counsel and insisted that their mother had abandoned them. McFarlane found that the mother had been abandoned in Pakistan, that the father had deliberately kept her from the children, and that she had not abandoned them.
A (Children) [2019] EWCA Civ 74
1 February 2019
Richard McCombe, Andrew Moylan, Peter Coulson allowed the mother’s appeal against Michael Keehan’s unpublished fact finding judgment delivered on 30 July 2018 that she was not the victim of transnational marriage abandonment, and ordered a fresh fact finding hearing. The mother had also sought a finding that the father had alienated the children against her.
RH (Parental Alienation) [2019] EWHC 2723 (Fam)
3 October 2019
Expert witness: Janine Braier
Judge: Michael Keehan
Father’s solicitor: Helen Fitzsimmons Family Law
Barrister for NYAS: Anarkali Musgrave
Barristers for father: Richard Jones and Francesca Wiley of 1 Garden Court Chambers
Reported by Family Law Week.
Family Law Hub: “The father applied for the son's care to be transferred from the mother to him, after the son rejected contact. Keehan J was highly critical of the evidence given by the social worker and the NYAS caseworker, accepting instead the report of an expert in the field of parental alienation. He noted that the mother's evidence at times consisted of a diatribe against the father. The mother saw no benefit in the son and father having a relationship, and she had plainly alienated the child against him. The best interests of the child required that a child arrangements order be made, that he should live with his father.”
Researching Reform commented: “The solution offered in the judgment – a complete and total uprooting of the child’s life, away from his school and friends, to distance him from his mother and re-establish his connection with his father by moving him to his father’s home, is another example of how the courts continue to get it wrong.
This kind of solution is deeply traumatic for a child, making it no solution at all.
While this site feels both parents contributed to their child’s distress, there is a far better way of dealing with cases like these, and it starts with the parents, not the child.
Wholesale repatriation is rarely the answer, and is a shoddy and careless way of dealing with these cases. It’s the kind of judgment we’ve come to expect from a court that doesn’t have the time or the inclination to offer sophisticated solutions to complex problems.”
[2020] EWHC B17 Re H Costs
Justice Keehan ordered the mother in EWHC 2723 to pay half the costs of the parental alienation “experts” involved: Janine Braier, Family Separation Clinic (Karen and/or Nick Woodall), Alison Bushell, Liz Archer.
Re T (Parental Alienation) [2019] EWHC 3854 (Fam)
18 December 2019
Judge: Alison Raeside
Barristers: Richard Jones of 1KBW for the father; Paula Rhone-Adrien of Venters for the mother
Psychologist: Christine Tizzard
Family Law Hub: “The five-year-old daughter had always lived with her mother, but had been the subject of legal proceedings between her parents for most of her life. All other avenues to engage and promote a good and loving relationship with the father having failed, he was now seeking an order that he should be the child's primary carer and that she should live with him. This application was supported by the child's Guardian. After hearing evidence regarding the consequences of the child being denied a relationship with the father, the mother ceased to actively oppose the father's application. Agreed findings were made that the daughter's relationship with the father had not been consistently promoted by the mother, that the mother was not in a position to promote a positive relationship between the daughter and the father, and that the mother had alienated the daughter from her father. HHJ Raeside (sitting as a judge of the High Court) made further findings including that the father would be better able to promote a relationship between the daughter and the mother. The child's welfare was best met by a transfer of care to her father, as well as an immediate change of school.”
Further comment by John Bolch at Stowe Family Law.
N.B. Alison Raeside was harassed and stalked by a father called Nyron Warmington in an unrelated case. He was convicted in August 2019.
R (Parental alienation and suspended transfer of residence) [2019] EWFC B61
2 December 2019
Judge: Robin Bedford
Barrister: Francesca Wiley of 1 Garden Court Chambers instructed by Helen Fitzsimons Solicitors
Counsel for NYAS: Elpha Le Cointe
Expert witness: “Dr B” - presumably Mark Berelowitz
Family Law Hub: The father applied for a transfer of residence, stating that his relationship with the children, aged 10 and 11, would constantly be thwarted if they remained with their mother. The mother had covertly recorded various meetings, including one between the children and the Guardian. The creation and modification dates of documents did not align with the dates on which she claimed to have supplied the documents. HHJ Bedford was also satisfied that she had deliberately misled education professionals involved in the children's lives, perpetuating allegations which had been tried and dismissed by the judiciary. Her interference in their relationship with their father had caused them emotional harm and would continue to do so, as long as she parented them solely. During an interval at court, and being aware of HHJ Bedford's findings, the parents agreed to share the care of the children on alternating fortnights, and the Guardian endorsed this plan. HHJ Bedford thus made a suspended residence order: complete transfer of residence to the father would take place only if the mother defaulted from their agreement.