Solicitor used my statement without permission

[Realitea]

I sent a statement (more like a diary of events) to SS and police out of concerns for someone’s children (neglect)
The person is splitting up with husband so there was a court case for residence
The solicitor of the husband has got a copy of the statement (persuaded me to send it to the husband but I refused to sign for it to be used in the case because I already sent it to the authorities and didn’t want to get that involved)
Now the wife who I was reporting has a copy of this statement!
I’m getting a lot of grief from her and police only advise to call for them if I’m scared for my/my family’s safety. They are investigating her anyway and are v. Grateful to me for speaking out but they didn’t pass the statement on
I think this solicitor has used the statement anyway against my wishes. What do I do now?

Nothing. This is what happens when you make a statement.

I stand to be corrected, but no one owes you a duty of confidentiality in that situation, no one is saying or passing on information that isn't true, you don't have any intellectual property rights in the statement, so you can't do anything.

Nothing. You forwarded the statement even if unsigned. If they are harassing you then keep reporting to the police or get your own solicitor to apply for a court order to prevent the harassment.

Thanks all. I’m still glad I sent it off so I can try to make sure the children aren’t neglected any more. I will probably need to report harassment as it hasn’t stopped all morning

Absolutely report the harassment. I'm sorry you are getting the flak for it but ultimately you have done the right thing if the children would be better off with the other parent. Theoretically the threshold would be lower to change resident parent and quicker than proceedings to remove the children into care.

Report the harassment, that's not fair.

persuaded me to send it to the husband

It would have been decent of the husband's solicitor to make it clear that the statement would be disclosed to both parties if you provided it, but realistically there's little you can do about that.

Ultimately you've done the right thing, the police should help with the harassment and hopefully it means a quicker and better outcome for the children involved

I’m confused. Did you make a statement in support of the father to have residency, at the request of the father? Or did his solicitor write to you to ask for a statement?
If you have made a statement alleging things about someone, surely they are entitled to know what those allegations are in order to answer to them? I’m not entirely sure what you thought would happen.

The statement was really for social services and police but the husband requested a copy and has then used that copy despite it not being signed as requested by his solicitor

I mean it wasn’t intended for this court case necessarily it just happened that there was one when I reported it as the mother’s behaviour was getting more and more concerning

Report to the Police and Social Services. I’d contact her lawyer too, if you know their details. Mom probably doesn’t need to be digging herself a bigger hole right now.
It might be worth you getting a lawyer to write one letter to the Mom telling her to back off.

Assuming the statement was given to the police (you wouldn’t do a statement for social services) they can be disclosed within Children Act proceedings. However each solicitor must undertake not to give their client a copy. If you know for sure they have an actual copy you need to notify the police as they have an interest in ensuring this stuff is kept confidential.

I’m wondering if I’m using the right word here. It’s more a diary of dates and times, descriptions of what I’ve seen and messages I’ve been sent. Is that the same as a statement?
The police said they didn’t make it available for the case but passed it on to SS and are using it for their investigation - not this court case - (so there must be other stuff going on) so it’s been very helpful for them
But I can’t understand how the mother got a copy of it. I’ll contact the police tomorrow

You say the husband used it as evidence in a court case. He will therefore have been required to give her a copy. That is a normal part of disclosure.

His solicitor should have made it clear they were going to use it so I could prepare/put some extra locks on my gate, etc