07 February 2010: Rffj campaign polo shirts - now on sale!
Only £14.99 including recorded delivery, £17.49 orders outside the Uk.
Available in 3 sizes L, Xl, XXl.
Additional items coming soon
Order on our main website >Click Here<
04 February 2010: An amicable divorce? Well it was... until those legal piranhas got their teeth into us
By Natasha Courtenay-Smith
04th February 2010
Mail
When Barry Cohen and his wife Susan decided to separate, they both hoped their divorce would remain as amicable as possible. With a young son to think about, plus a menagerie of horses, dogs and birds, they were keen to reach an agreement and move on.
Indeed, so civilised was their stance that they even sat down over a cup of tea and totted up the value of their assets, which included seven properties and a fleet of five Rolls-Royces.
Then, with everything set out on paper, they agreed a figure that Barry would give to Susan by way of settlement.
With both having employed local solicitors to see them through the process, things were, as they say, progressing smoothly. Until, that is, Susan decided to seek a second opinion from another law firm.
'We learned the hard way,' says Susan, 'that all divorce lawyers seem to do is pit husband and wife against each other for a bitter and prolonged battle, so they can earn themselves thousands of pounds in fees during the process.
'Barry and I were pushed to the brink, emotionally and financially, and ended up despising each other. Worst of all, the settlement this firm got me was actually slightly less than Barry had originally offered, even though at the time I employed them they told me Barry's offer was far less than I was truly due, and they would get me a much better deal.
'And the process has left us about £150,000 worse off in legal fees. All that these solicitors care about is making money.'
04th February 2010
Indeed, so civilised was their stance that they even sat down over a cup of tea and totted up the value of their assets, which included seven properties and a fleet of five Rolls-Royces.
Then, with everything set out on paper, they agreed a figure that Barry would give to Susan by way of settlement.
With both having employed local solicitors to see them through the process, things were, as they say, progressing smoothly. Until, that is, Susan decided to seek a second opinion from another law firm.
'We learned the hard way,' says Susan, 'that all divorce lawyers seem to do is pit husband and wife against each other for a bitter and prolonged battle, so they can earn themselves thousands of pounds in fees during the process.
'Barry and I were pushed to the brink, emotionally and financially, and ended up despising each other. Worst of all, the settlement this firm got me was actually slightly less than Barry had originally offered, even though at the time I employed them they told me Barry's offer was far less than I was truly due, and they would get me a much better deal.
'And the process has left us about £150,000 worse off in legal fees. All that these solicitors care about is making money.'
02 February 2010: Co. Durham drop in service
The FACE 2 project is the result.
They have announced a drop-in service for parents and children going through divorce or separation. Come along with your children to network, have fun, meet new friends and find a listening ear. Taster sessions are every Sunday at 2-4pm, commencing Sunday February 21st 2010. Cost is £1 per person for both adults and children.
FACE 2 Drop-in
Kepier Hall
Church Street, Houghton-le-Spring
Co.Durham
07757 317 467
>Link to Map<
Rffj are very proud to have been involved in some of the early consultation in 2009 setting up this project, we hope Face 2 is successful and send our best wishes to all involved.
02 February 2010: Repost: Research request - Belfast and Glasgow supporters
If you are interested in being part of the book and sharing your views on the Family Law system, the Fathers’ Rights/Parenting Movement, and related issue, that would be very helpful. I am interested in interviewing fathers, mothers, grandmothers, grandfathers, and others who have been impacted by the Family Law System. All interviews will be confidential and those being interviewed will remain anonymous in any written material.
Dr. Robert A. Kenedy
Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology
Faculty of Arts
Academic Advisor
219 Founders College
York University
Toronto, Ontario M3J 1P3
CANADA
E-mail rkenedy@yorku.ca or contact info@realfathersforjustice.org
29 January 2010: Australian Equal Parenting Reforms under attack
Once again we see individual violent acts by individuals and failing Family Courts being used to condemn all separated and divorced fathers as violent and not worthy of being treated with equity in the Family Courts.
This Australian backlash is something the International equal parenting campaigns should now pay attention to, and unite in efforts to ensure shared parenting and equality in family law is not derailed by associating violence with the majority of good fathers willing and able to care for their children after separation & divorce.
28 January 2010: The woman told that she was too stupid to keep her baby boy
By Alison Smith Squire
Last updated at 1:18 AM on 28th January 2010
Piles of newborn baby clothes - mostly in shades of blue - lie neatly folded on a chair.
Like any new mother, Kerry Robertson spent weeks excitedly preparing for her first child's arrival - and yet 13 days after his birth, all the carefully arranged baby paraphernalia remains unused.
Kerry Robertson
Loving mother: Kerry Robertson, 17, was told she would not be able to bring up her baby son Ben because she has mild learning difficulties
And yet today Kerry and her partner, Mark McDougall, 25, will finally be able to lay their son Ben down to sleep in the basket they bought for him with such hope.
Kerry, who has mild learning difficulties, and Mark went on the run from their home in Fife, Scotland, last November after British social services said she was not clever enough to raise a child.
They hoped that by escaping to Ireland they would be left alone to be a family together.
But when Ben was four days old, social workers caught up with them, marching into the maternity ward and forcing them to hand him over.
Only after a court hearing last Friday were the parents told they will get their child back - albeit under supervision.
26 January 2010: A true story of parental separation and a lost childhood
Lucy contacted Rffj to offer her support to the campaign after years of alienation by her mum, after her mother passed away Lucy was eventually reconciled with her father; however they cannot replace the precious years that have been lost forever.
From as far back as I can remember, family meant the world to me. I had an older half brother (from my mother), a twin sister, a baby brother and the two most important people in my world, my mum and dad.
I was as normal as any excitable little girl. As I grew up I realized not all mums and dads lived together. I was lucky mine did, not that it seemed to make much difference to my friends because many saw both parents despite being separated or divorced.
When I turned 12 my life changed, not because I was suddenly a teenager but because my mother had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.
Harsh as the situation was we tried to push through as a family.
Six months later my father left the family home.
He later said, “It was one of the worst times to leave”.
I do not hold my dad punishable for leaving, I never did, I pleaded for him to stay, but as a child you never know how complicated relationships are until you are older, it’s not a fairytale as every child thinks life is.
My mother was not the easiest person to get on with, life with her was full of emotional blackmail and some seriously bad obsessive spending of money the family didn’t have.
My mother still blamed my dad, he had hurt her, and I remember her leaving all of his belongings outside on the porch.
I cried so hard for my dad, my mother said I didn’t love her because I was crying for him.
I was as normal as any excitable little girl. As I grew up I realized not all mums and dads lived together. I was lucky mine did, not that it seemed to make much difference to my friends because many saw both parents despite being separated or divorced.
When I turned 12 my life changed, not because I was suddenly a teenager but because my mother had been diagnosed with terminal breast cancer.
Harsh as the situation was we tried to push through as a family.
Six months later my father left the family home.
He later said, “It was one of the worst times to leave”.
I do not hold my dad punishable for leaving, I never did, I pleaded for him to stay, but as a child you never know how complicated relationships are until you are older, it’s not a fairytale as every child thinks life is.
My mother was not the easiest person to get on with, life with her was full of emotional blackmail and some seriously bad obsessive spending of money the family didn’t have.
My mother still blamed my dad, he had hurt her, and I remember her leaving all of his belongings outside on the porch.
I cried so hard for my dad, my mother said I didn’t love her because I was crying for him.
26 January 2010: Couple who fled to Ireland hope to get baby back shortly
Irish Times
RONAN McGREEVY
A COUPLE who fled from social services in their native Scotland only to have their newborn baby taken into care in Ireland said they are confident of being reunited with their child this week.
Kerry Robertson (17), who has a learning disability, and her partner Mark McDougall (25) came to Ireland to have their baby, claiming Fife Council had threatened to take it away.
In September, the Scottish authorities cancelled their wedding on the grounds that Ms Robertson, then five months pregnant, did not have the mental capacity to understand marriage.
Their son Ben was born in Waterford on January 15th. Four days later, Health Service Executive (HSE) South-East childcare workers got an ex-parte emergency protection order taking Ben into foster care on foot of a request from Fife Council social services.
Last Friday they were granted an interim care order. Ben is now with foster parents. His birth parents are able to see him every day.
Mr McDougall, an artist, said he was confident the family would be together by Wednesday, and he praised the HSE for the manner in which they dealt with the case.
RONAN McGREEVY
Kerry Robertson (17), who has a learning disability, and her partner Mark McDougall (25) came to Ireland to have their baby, claiming Fife Council had threatened to take it away.
In September, the Scottish authorities cancelled their wedding on the grounds that Ms Robertson, then five months pregnant, did not have the mental capacity to understand marriage.
Their son Ben was born in Waterford on January 15th. Four days later, Health Service Executive (HSE) South-East childcare workers got an ex-parte emergency protection order taking Ben into foster care on foot of a request from Fife Council social services.
Last Friday they were granted an interim care order. Ben is now with foster parents. His birth parents are able to see him every day.
Mr McDougall, an artist, said he was confident the family would be together by Wednesday, and he praised the HSE for the manner in which they dealt with the case.
23 January 2010: Rffj comment on baby snatch and message from Mark McDougall
Even if social workers could legally prove Kerry’s mild learning disabilities impair her abilities to care for her son, which they have no evidence and without doubt will be robustly defended, then why won’t social workers consider Ben’s father Mark as main carer in the interim?
Surely under Mark’s keen supervision Ben could be kept with his parents, isn’t taking a breast feeding baby away from his mother too extreme?
Of course where there is evidence that parents are abusive, neglectful or have serious addiction issues social workers should step in, but in this case we have a loving couple who are prepared to go to extreme measures to stay together as a family.
The reason the social workers won’t consider Mark as a potential main carer is that he does not have parental responsibility; in Ireland they don’t even recognize him as a parent without it.
22 January 2010: Irish social workers snatch baby from breast feeding mother
Mother 'not clever enough to raise child' has baby snatched by social workers after running away to Ireland to give birth
LibDem MP John Hemming, who has been supporting the couple, said: ‘There is no evidence that Mark and Kerry cannot be good parents’
Mail
By Alison Smith Squire
22nd January 2010
A couple who fled to Ireland after social workers threatened to remove their baby at birth have had the newborn snatched after all.
Kerry Robertson, 17, who has mild learning difficulties, and Mark McDougall, 25, went on the run after British social services said she was not clever enough to raise a child. But just four days after Ben was born, Irish social workers marched into the maternity ward and forced them to hand him over.
They were told they were acting at the behest of their British counterparts. The couple, from Fife, Scotland, have been on the run for three months.
In September, their wedding was halted just 48 hours before the service when social workers claimed Miss Robertson was not bright enough to understand the marriage declaration. Then in November they were told that her ‘disability’ meant their baby would be taken away at birth.
With Miss Robertson 29 weeks pregnant, they fled their house in the middle of the night and travelled to Ireland. Ben was born healthy and weighing 7lb 3oz last Friday.
Last night Miss Robertson said: ‘When the Irish social workers said I had to give the baby to them, I felt sick.
‘I didn’t want to hand him over and I started crying because I couldn’t believe what they were saying. I thought I had misunderstood.
‘I had just been breastfeeding him. Just before they took him away, I told Ben I loved him and gave him a kiss.’
LibDem MP John Hemming, who has been supporting the couple, said: ‘There is no evidence that Mark and Kerry cannot be good parents’
By Alison Smith Squire
22nd January 2010
Kerry Robertson, 17, who has mild learning difficulties, and Mark McDougall, 25, went on the run after British social services said she was not clever enough to raise a child. But just four days after Ben was born, Irish social workers marched into the maternity ward and forced them to hand him over.
They were told they were acting at the behest of their British counterparts. The couple, from Fife, Scotland, have been on the run for three months.
In September, their wedding was halted just 48 hours before the service when social workers claimed Miss Robertson was not bright enough to understand the marriage declaration. Then in November they were told that her ‘disability’ meant their baby would be taken away at birth.
With Miss Robertson 29 weeks pregnant, they fled their house in the middle of the night and travelled to Ireland. Ben was born healthy and weighing 7lb 3oz last Friday.
Last night Miss Robertson said: ‘When the Irish social workers said I had to give the baby to them, I felt sick.
‘I didn’t want to hand him over and I started crying because I couldn’t believe what they were saying. I thought I had misunderstood.
‘I had just been breastfeeding him. Just before they took him away, I told Ben I loved him and gave him a kiss.’
