ex possibly has criminal record

[NettleTea]

am putting this here as I put it in legal and got no replies

spent the evening with my ex's ex and my DDs half brother
while i was there she (the mum) told me that her friend was having the ex charged after he attacked him in her mothers house, and that its possible that he may go to prison this time.

although not great for DD and her DS, it might be a good thing as ex does apear to think he is above the law and she seems to know about lots of incidents that people havent taken further for one reason or another.

When her friend went to press charges the police told him that they had quite a file on the ex. I thought that the ex GF had dropped charges for assault in the past, but she mentioned going to court with him twice, and numerous calls to police to come when he was harrassing her.

I dont know about any of this and am obviously a bit concerned, re contact with DD. Ex only has supervised contact at the moment, but recenty has expressed that he was going to take me to court for increased access. although this is a bit of a joke in itself, as he seriously fails to maintain the access he already has been granted, I am keen to have as much evidence as possible to demonstrate his unsuitability to look after a child alone. is it possible for me to find out what his criminal background is, what they have on file against him, or if he has been charged with anything?

I do not qualify for legal aid, so would have to represent myself if I had to go to court, so I have no solicitor to request this info, if that is even possible. can i just go to the police and ask for disclosure because of my daughter - I believe some sort of disclosure is available for potential partners, but what about for children?

I don't think there's anything stopping you contacting your local police, explaining the situation re access to your daughter, and seeing how much information they are allowed to pass on. If they can't give you the information directly they may be able to suggest a way you can find out. His threat to take you to court for increased access is, in the circumstances, very foolish because he knows better than most what would come out in court. Good luck

I don't know the answer but I don't want you to have no replies. Have you thought of asking the Children's Legal Centre for advice? or Childline? The CAB might also be able to help, their bureau in the Royal courts of Justice helps Litigants in Person (ie people representing themselves).

I think you are very wise to take this seriously, good luck.

It sems to me you may be referring to 'Sarah's Law' which enables parents, guardians and third parties to ask the police to disclose whether a person who has access to a child is a registered sex offender, or poses a risk to that child, and which isn't applicable to your situation.

As I understand it, given you do not share a home or have an ongoing relationship with your ex, you are not entitled to know whether he has a criminal record of violence and, even if a well-meaning police officer were to stretch a point, if you are representing yourself it would not be advisable to for you to cite his criminal record in a Court of Law without substantive documented evidence to prove your allegation and you may incur some penalty if, for example, you cited offences for which he was duly convicted but which are now spent.

In the event that your ex applies to a Court for increase in contact or makes application to be granted unsupervised contact, I would suggest you inform the Court that 'information has recently come' to your attention which indicates your dd may be at risk of harm if the current contact Order is varied and ask the Court to request a Cafcass assessment/report prior to giving any further directions - Cafcass can make the necessary request to the police for disclosure of his criminal record(s), if any.

In the meantime, I suggest you keep your ear to the ground and search the net/local press to see if you can find any reports which bear testimony to what you have been told - which, as it stands, falls within the category of 'hearsay'.

IMO it's highly unlikely that your ex will make any application to a Court in respect of your dd and I'm guessing the heat's on him so he's venting some of the steam on to you.

These twunts are all the same - they use bluff and bluster to big themselves up, but they still look and sound like big dickheads to me

If you live in Wiltshire, Greater Manchester, Gwent or Nottinghamshire you can ask your local police for disclosure under 'Claires Law'. Its a pilot scheme being run to provide disclosures of criminal records to enable people to assess risk themselves.

What you want is basically an enhanced CRB check isn't it? Not saying you can get one but that's the idea and seeing as he wants unsupervised access it's not 'unreasonable' even if it's not currently allowed/standard practice. Perhaps it should be...

What about contacting social services?