Hi,
Does anyone know if I would qualify for legal aid?
My ex is taking me to court over contact with our 9 month old son. We split when he was 2 weeks old and had regular contact since, although there has still been issues from him about contact as in constantly pushing for more as in overnight stays when ds was weeks old. My ex has never had any involvement with children whatsoever so needless to say I was against overnight stays. I have tried to tell him it would all come in time as ds got older & he learns to cater to his needs more which he cannot do as he doesn't know how but he has made my life hell with his bullying and constant demands. It was a volatile relationship from the start. He does not get into my house cos of his abuse so we don't have the kind of relationship for me to show him what to do.
When ds was 7 months old he was returning him from contact and he tried to bully me yet again into changing the arrangements. I said no and he tried to run off with ds and said he wouldn't be returning him. I naturally ran after him to get ds back and he assaulted me while he was holding ds resulting in marks to my chest and a had a cut bleeding hand. I managed to get ds off him an run into house. I called police and he was arrested at his home later that night. He was released on bail an wasn't allowed to contact me, enter my street etc. There was some cctv footage of the whole incident from a camera on my neighbours house but unfortunately the angle of the camera wasn't at a good enough position to see the impact so there is no further action taken.
What i would like to know is, is the fact he was arrested and I have a letter from the police with crime number etc enough for me to qualify for legal aid for someone to represent me when he takes me to court. Or does he need to have been cautioned or convicted etc. I am in receipt of the passporting benefit to qualify it's just this issue I am unsure on.