P (Children) (Welfare – Final Hearing), Re

Facts

The proceedings concerned the welfare of five children: J, a girl aged 15; K, a boy almost 14; L, a girl aged 12; M, a girl aged 9; and N, a girl aged 5. The parents had made cross-applications in January and March 2025, which had been before the Sheffield Family Court for some 18 months. The father acted in person; the mother was represented by counsel and supported throughout by her IDAS worker. Following a lengthy fact-finding hearing, the court made findings of domestic abuse against the father on 16 February 2026, including serious findings of coercive and controlling behaviour and behaviour causing emotional harm to the mother and the children. No appeal against those findings was pursued successfully or at all. K moved back to live with his mother and sisters in April 2026, so that all five children resided with the mother. A non-molestation order was made on 15 May 2026, together with an order for indirect contact between K and his father through pre-recorded communications facilitated by the social worker. The father twice applied for the judge's recusal, both applications being refused. The section 37 report of the allocated social worker, dated 5 May 2026, recommended that all the children remain with their mother, with no direct contact and only limited indirect contact to the girls. The final hearing determined living arrangements, contact, prohibited steps and the mother's application to continue and extend the non-molestation order.