David Blunkett gets two hours’ supervised Contact

Daily Express UK April 22, 2005

Note: This report was found hidden away in the Daily Express UK - I Wonder Why! Issues of DV perhaps?

David Blunkett as finally been allowed two hours’ supervised access to his son William per month. Little is, I am certain, better than none? - But how on earth did the best legal brains decide to allocate such a limited period so infrequently.

If William and his father enjoy the rapport witnessed by those who saw the “family” – David Blunkett, Kimberly Quinn and William – on holiday together in Corfu, surely two hours a month will only be sufficient to confuse or tantalise, but insufficient to cement a bond or give a feeling of lasting security to a toddler. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Blunkett

'The Welfare of the Child' is also intended to help fathers involved in litigation and includes judgments from both the Court of Appeal and the County Court in family proceedings. The former UK Home Secretary David Blunkett said, 'I am very grateful to all those, like yourself, who have written and particularly where you have been able to demonstrate your own thinking from the experiences you have had. Congratulations on your battle'.

Your Responses :

I spent two years having two hours supervised every Saturday with both my kids. The centre wound up leaving me unsupervised after the first six months because the felt, (as did I), that it was her way of getting back at me.
They also pushed until she allowed 3 hours then 4, and eventually offsite contact, (ie pick up and drop off). She was still dictating terms for visits and telling the kids stuff that was not only partly false, but was between her and I and kids under 10 should have known about.

After 2 ½ years I finally spat the dummy, (and the DVO she had fraudulently acquired had expired), so I applied to court. She had a Legal Aid conference the Friday before the court case, and I was virtually bludgeoned into a consent order. It worked for the first 6 weeks, then she told the kids they didn’t have to come to me if they didn’t want to and started fighting with me at pickup, (so naturally the kids were too upset to come with me).

About $8-10 and 6 court appearances later I still only get every second Saturday and Sunday with my son and every second Saturday with my daughter.
Tell David I feel for him, (I have a pretty fair idea of his pain). Also tell him don’t give up. Any time with your kids is better than none, (I spent 2 months not seeing them at all). I hope you can help him achieve a far better contact arrangement or better still, shared care.

Robert Thomas rithomas@netspace.net.au

Come on it's obvious............. that is the max that she was prepared to allow and ole Blunkett has "come to his senses"......... he desires more than anything else to be a big hitter in government and there was no way he would get a seat in cabinet whilst he was having a legal battle in the family courts................ he could have got more in court but neither he nor labour could allow further publicity.

William Beckett beau62@breathem

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