Judge rules mother must allow five year old son contact with father

Outlining the importance of fathers being involved in their children’s lives, a judge has ruled that a vegetarian mother who stopped her son from seeing his father for reasons which included a fear he might feed him meat must let him see the child or risk the Judge ordering that the child should live with his father.

The woman had stopped her five year old son from seeing his father for more than a year after claiming he called him by another name, put him in danger because he didn’t ensure he wore a seatbelt, and also wouldn’t stick to the boy’s vegetarian diet.

Lord Justice Underhill however, ruled that the mother must comply with an earlier order to allow the boy to see his father or he would be sent to live with him permanently. He said she had been given a “last opportunity” to remain the primary carer for her son and refused to allow her to appeal a previous order which gave the father weekend and overnight contact with his son.

The judge said that he understood there was a rift between the couple but still hoped they could negotiate for their child’s sake: “I do, for this five-year-old boy's sake, wish the mother and the father the best in doing their best for their son."

If you’d like advice on child contact and separation please contact James Haworth at Lawson-West on 0116 212 1080.

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