violent husband refuses to return kids after visit... please help.

[mrbojangles]

Hello,
I have posted this in the wrong area and have been directed here.. I really hope someone can help to put me in the right direction.
I'll try to be brief but will no doubt fail miserably..
My sister has recently separated (6 weeks) from her violent husband. Things have been very difficult, his family have been both aggresive and intimidating to my sister and parents. She has contacted the police and a injunction is in process, though not yet in action.
He has seen the children and taken them to the park,but that has been the extent of contact.
Yesterday he said he would like to take them out and she agreed but now he is refusing to give them back. They are 2yr and 3yr. She tried to talk him round and gave him a cut off time. When the time was up she called the police. They are saying that as it was her he hit (even though she was pregnant) he is no threat to the children so there is nothing they can do and have referred her to citizens advise and said she should get a solictor.

I am much older than my sister and she looks up to me and I just have no knowledge of this in law, I'm really worried about her and want to guide in the right direction.... If anyone can point me in the right direction I would really appreciate it. Thankyou.

If he is so aggressive / violent maybe his mother could be fearful of him and so is fabricating stories as a result?

Keep Social Services informed and CAFCASS may also be able to provide some assistance. they are aware of issues such as this.

Supervised contact in a contact centre. Don.'t see why he should have anything else.

MrBo - SS involvement means they now know there is a potential risk to the children. It is for the best. In reality they would receive a notification from the police domestic violence unit every time an incident is reported that is witnessed by a child, and now there is an open case, they will be told of ALL incidents.

It means for your sister that she will have some support in ensuring her children are protected. They will, if she wants them to, feed into the cafcass process and ensure proper contact is set up.

BUT, if he is not living there, and they have said they have no reason to visit or take things further, the file will just lie there for a while.

Remember, they deal with situations like this every day and are used to the fabrications made by dv perpetrators and their families in order to ensure they get access to children. They will be swayed by police reports and your statement rather than him and his families.

Good luck to her, glad she has the children back.