A v B

Facts

The applicant father and respondent mother are the parents of three boys, [Child A] and twins [Child B] and [Child C], who live with their mother and spend time with their father. The parents also have an older daughter, [Child E], who does not wish to see her father. The relationship was marked by domestic abuse: on 1 February 2022 Judge Wright gave a fact-finding judgment making findings against the father, following which Cafcass recommended supervised contact. Judge Branston, hearing the matter finally, disagreed, ordering alternate weekends and half the holidays and making a section 91(14) order against the father expiring on 27 July 2026, on the basis that the father had demonstrated a capacity for meaningful change. The mother applied for a child arrangements order dated 5 December 2024; the father applied for an enforcement order dated 3 April 2024, complaining of breaches since June 2024 and seeking costs, though permission to bring it was never specifically granted. A Cafcass safeguarding letter recommended supervised interim contact, and a section 7 report was followed by an addendum report from the social worker. The disputed issues were [Child A]'s school, the time the boys should spend with their father, supervision, a prohibited steps order, penal notices, football clubs and a section 91(14) order. The hearing took place against the backdrop of the father awaiting a criminal trial in August on charges of coercive control.