Hello
I really need some urgent advice re my statement which needs to be filed simultaneously with exHs' one. It is due in just after half-term which leaves me v little time to work on it. You may recognise my story under previous name.
Background..exH abusive (DV) and abused DS badly when we were living abroad, we came back to our house in the UK, he decided to up sticks back to his native country. He turned up, I got in terim PSO. It was scheduled for re-hearing. My legal aid solicitor contacted him but no reply or acknowledgement.
He turned up to the court with a RO application, interim RO APPLICATION, TWO ABS IRRELEVANT specific issue order applications about matters never disputed, extra form claiming he was victim of DV and a statement with rambled on full of lies using eveidence which was actually against him (SS report, EP report) as supposedly backing up his case. My solicitors whom I had been begging for a RO for six months never stood up to his barrister (he also had a Mackenzie) so basically nobody advocating on my behalf. Judge ordered a s37 as he implied that I had absconded from UK with him and now absconded from his country and I was going to run away again (when all I did was come back home after a few weeks of hell where DS has always lived).
He denied physical abuse of DS despite SS having interviewed DS alone and claimed that I was emotionally harming DS as I was overprotective/could not set boundries (all crap, I was just overcompensating for a deadbeat violent father who would sleep all day and was leading a morally dubious lifestyle, possibly on drugs)
The feckless wastrel had claimed legal aid (despite leaving the UK, working freelance for his Mackenzie friend and squirrelling the money into places to finance his addictions). So much for the no-order principle constantly being pointed out to me.
I am trying to get my statement together. Solicitor told me that no major harm has been done, it was only a directions hearing, I may get a barrister next time, I cant afford to go private so really I know it is down to me to get the statement right for the next hearing. Obv there is loads more but I should get to the point.
Q1 - Is it right that my solicitor is addressing his concerns first in my statement when the penny has finally dropped and it is a combined statement actually in support of my own RO application. Surely addressing the lies should naturally happen in the course of my own statement and be referred to briefly as such. I HATE the fact that due to their silly explanations, I am now the respondent to a bunch of lies rather than a petitioner. I had such a lot going on in my favour but it now feels that I will be on trial wrt s37
Q2 Could anybody direct me to an online example website of what a statement should look like, how long it should be, how appropriate it would be to use family/friend statements (sworn) at this stage, or else tell me what is the correct way of doing this. It is not a final hearing.
Q3 Could anybody recommend a hot legal-aid barrister (in London PRFD)
Q4 DS is at risk of significant harm if he were to be left alone with ExH. I am worried that wont be reflected - I have sought a second opinion and I know that contact is going to be the main issue. He is trying to get DS to spend half his time in his native country. DS hated it there, does not speak the language, never bonded with his relatives, has SNs which requite on going input here, loves living here and is very much part of a close community and supportive wider family, DS was beaten to a pulp by ExH which is what ended the marriage as it happened over many weeks, I have been st DV too and he was cautioned over it,DS finds the thought of spending time with him traumatic. Surely it should never be the case that he is viewed as
neurotypical, happy child who is ferried here and there between two loving parents - we have been abused, the ss ep reports bear this out, why is our DV and the antagonism which went before it in the UK, being belittled by my solicitor. I have people in whom I confided at the time who would testify but this is not considered worthwhile by her. What more would they really expect in terms of evidence?
Q4 Ds is nearly 7 - he is distressed by phone contact let alone anything else. It is actually more than he wants to take on psychologically. It has been rubbished by ExH as amounting to nothing/claimed DS has been manipulated by myself.
When will his opinion count as important enough?
Sorry about all the questions. I just want to get the balance of the statement absolutely right. I don't want to get bogged down by masses of unsubstantiated crap chucked this way by ExH. This is my chance to finally have a voice and get the order I have been begging for ever since we came home. So, so frustrating