P (Children) (Fact-Finding – Private Law), Re

Facts

The parties are the parents of five children: J, a girl aged 15, K, a boy aged 13, L, a girl aged 11, M, a girl aged 8, and N, a girl aged 5. They met in 2009 and married shortly thereafter; since separation the girls have lived with the mother and K with the father, the siblings having lived apart for two years. On 17 January 2025 the father, a litigant in person supported by a McKenzie Friend, applied for a child arrangements (spend time with) order, a prohibited steps order and a specific issue order; the mother cross-applied on 25 March 2025 for a child arrangements (lives with) order and a prohibited steps order. Because of the allegations of domestic abuse a qualified legal representative was appointed to cross-examine the mother and her witnesses, and special measures were put in place. Children's Services had assessed the father as high risk and permitted his care of K only under his partner's supervision; he faces prosecutions for rape, sexual assault, assault (ABH), coercive control and non-fatal strangulation, and South Yorkshire Police seek disclosure of these proceedings. Each parent filed a schedule of allegations against the other. The hearing listed for November 2025 was adjourned when the QLR was taken ill, and the fact-finding hearing ran between January and February 2026.