P, W and M, Re

This judgment was handed down on 20 February 2025 and released to The National Archives on 11 April 2024 at 10am following the conclusion of the Father's criminal trial.� There is a Transparency Order dated 19 February 2025

      The first respondent Mother, AA, sadly died by suicide in March 2024, six weeks after the children were removed under the interim care order.� The second respondent Father, G, was not named on M's birth certificate and, as of at the start of this Final Hearing, did not have parental responsibility in respect of her.� Since there is no dispute as to his paternity of M, and in the absence of any other parent than a corporate one, I directed that the Father should have parental responsibility given the nature of the orders sought by the applicant authority.

      When proceedings commenced in February 2024, the Father had not had contact with his children for about a year.� Contact resumed under the interim care order, and took place at a contact centre until the Father's incarceration in October 2024.� The Father remains remanded in custody at HMP Bullingdon where he is awaiting trial on indictment alleging a domestically violent offence said to have been committed in the context of sexual assault.� His trial is due to take place later in 2025.�

  �The Final Threshold Document was filed on 12 February 2025, which the Father accepts subject to two minor disputes: he disputes breaching a non-molestation order in respect of the Mother, and he disputes being out of his children's lives for prolonged periods of time.

  During the hearing I was provided with the MG5 - the police and CPS case summary - relating to the alleged offences for which the Father is awaiting trial.� I have also had the benefit of case summaries and final position statements from the parties, as well as their careful and cogent written submissions in closing.� I am very grateful to all of the advocates for their hard work and high level of professionalism throughout this very sad case.