Ex won't tell me what he's in court for

[bravermanclan]

Me and my ex share 9 year old son. He is in court for the second time in 4 years today. I only found out due to a friend sending me the court roll. He is refusing to tell me what he is in court for (it is a criminal court). He says it's none of my business and he hasn't told his family and doesn't trust me not to.

When he was in court the last time it was because he crashed his car on the motorway high on drugs, I only found out when it appeared in the paper. He had seemed to clean himself up the past 3 years but now in court again for god knows what.

He has our son EOW. AIBU to think as we share a child I have the right to know why he is in court? What if he goes to prison? This impacts on our son!

Why not attend court and find out?

I work

Ask a friend to go then, if not you'll have to wait and see if it gets published in the paper.

If you are concerned from a safety standpoint you could contact social services but they are unlikely to divulge to you the details, just assess the impact if any on your child.

Can't you see what cases are being heard? I thought that was public information.

Can you take a morning/afternoon off work and head down to the court? Ask your manager if you can make up the time over the rest of the week.

Surely you’d only need to be there for 10/15 mins to get the gist of what he’s there for?

Call the court. It's a matter of public record.

You may be able to call up and find an obliging usher to let you know what he’s up for. Justice has to be done publicly so it’s all public information, he can’t actually hide it from you, but you may just have to find out another way. If it’s Mags court, which I expect it is everything starts there, I’d give them a call before court sits at 10am and ask.

I'm not sure you have the right to know per se but you should certainly be able to find out easily enough. And it's definitely information which would be useful for you to have in terms of dealing with the fallout for your child!

I feel like he has a right to his privacy until it impacts you and and your son

www.gov.uk/government/news/magistrates-court-listings-now-published-online

You can Google "what cases are buying heard at X crown court today" where X is the court in question. For my local one it would let me see details of one case before requiring me to register for free to see it...

It's a sheriff court. We are in Scotland

You can click into the case on the list and it will tell you what they're accused of. I know because DS is on jury service next week and I've been having a nosy at what cases he might see

Call the court, the lists are in the public domain.
If it’s anything drug or alcohol related I’m sure you’ll do everything to protect your son. A solicitor would advise you.

@bravermanclan

I work

Annual leave?

Sheriff court lists for Scotland
www.scotcourts.gov.uk/current-business/court-rolls/sheriff-court

It's today though he is at court so I can't leave work this short notice

@bravermanclan

I work

Take a days holiday

Ah sorry just saw your later post ref today

You can call the court and ask what the hearing is (e.g. trial, committal etc) and what the charge is.

If he won't tell you I would let him know that I am applying for a variation for contact due to unknown criminal charges.

Him saying he won't tell you in case you tell his family is bullshit, afterall he could be detained by the court.

Just spoke to someone at sheriff court. They said they can't give information over the phone?

OP, he's being naive if he thinks it can be kept a big secret. Sheriff Court cases are open to the public, so for all he knows his parents' next door neighbours could be sitting in the public gallery, or indeed anyone who knows him. Depending on your local paper, it will be reported in the next issue.

I work within the Scottish court system. Unfortunately, due to GDPR court will not be able to tell you what he is charged with. If you call the court all they will be able to tell you is whether or not the case has actually called in court.
Pre Covid you would have been able to attend court and sit in the public gallery but now they are no longer allowing the public in due to trying to minimise footfall in the court buildings. I’m really sorry, but there’s not really much you can do at all OP.

Scotland is the same as England in that criminal case is a matter of public record, you should easily be able to find out what he's there for (or at least what he is being charged for)