A v B

Facts

The proceedings concerned D, a boy aged three, born in March 2023. His father, Mr A, applied on 15 April 2025 for a child-arrangements order that D should live with him and spend time with his mother; his mother, Ms B, applied on 23 June 2025 for an order that D live with her, together with a prohibited steps order restraining the father from removing D from her care. Ms B separately applied on 27 November 2025 for a non-molestation order. The parties began their relationship in September 2020. In October 2022 Ms B presented at a police station with bruising and a black eye but declined to name her partner; D and Ms B's eldest child were made subject to a child protection plan for emotional abuse in March 2023. The parties separated in the summer of 2024, resumed in October 2024, and following an incident on 3 December 2024 Ms B was accommodated in a refuge. Mr A was convicted of battery against Ms B in May 2025 and later arrested on further allegations awaiting CPS charging decisions. Each party alleged domestic abuse against the other, and a fact-finding hearing was directed. Deputy District Judge Naish had made a consent prohibited steps order and Deputy District Judge Davies a without-notice non-molestation order, whose continuance fell to be determined at this hearing.