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DRA vs Final Hearing

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Dadoftwo

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Section 7 is currently being prepared and should be completed by July 2023. DRA is listed for November 23.

What would suggest the Judge list a final hearing? I've just spoken to Social Services (a new one has been assigned) and she is extremely biased and it is shocking. I fear that the Judge will simply accept her report which I am confident will be in M's favour.

The social worker said she read the Judgement, so I raised concerns about M's drug use - The SW replied that's your interpretation and allegation, but the mother never had drugs in her system, the Judge said the test was negative.
So I asked the SW the same question again, if she had read the judgement, she responded yes and I said can I read something that the Judge found and you tell me what you think:

The Judge's finding - I accept therefore that M either used cannabis herself or spent time in the company of those that did with the result that the children's clothing smelt faintly of cannabis at the material time

The SW's response: This can be interpreted in many ways, bottom line is, the mother did a test and it was negative, and the Judge did not raise any concern regarding the drugs.

I mean if something so concerning like this with clear evidence to back it up - I'm not sure I stand a chance in her report.
 
Yes SS are outrageously biased towards Mothers. A fact found against a Mother is ignored (SW putting her standing above that of a Judge). But if a Dad is found innocent at a fact find, they have sometimes ignored that and still recommended Dad goes on a perpetrator course.

Don't worry. As with everything it just adds to the hassle and costs money. The thing to do is get the SW cross examined at the final hearing and get their S7 report undermined as flawed (it's nearly always flawed so it's not difficult to do).

What really concerns me is they protect Mothers rather than children.
 
I'm glad I'm not the only one! It's a shame, at one point I did have a really good SW and she wasn't biased (maybe a little towards me) and she wanted to do the S7! And of course, with my bad luck, by the time they ordered the S7, she left her job.

Right so, how do I convince the Judge for a final hearing? I don't want the DRA to be the last. If I can be honest, I'd rather not pay a barrister for the DRA and go in myself and then have the Barrister for the final hearing. Not sure how to convince the judge.
 
You just need to get to a final hearing, have a good final statment with evidence. The Judge is convinced by your statement and evidence and by the barrister's cross examination of your ex and the SW. You'll just need to wait and see what the S7 says now.
 
It's extremely frustrating @Dadoftwo
What seems so clear to you just gets brushed aside by SWs and judges. I bet if it was you being accused of smoking cannabis it would be a different story.
 
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Have you received the S7 report yet? I do not think you have from what you have written.

It is very good that you read out the pertinent part of the judge's findings. When you do receive the report you can challenge any factual errors. When I received my safeguarding letter I challenged errors of omission on the basis that failure to include information I gave to the cafcass officer created an erroneous representation of the matter at hand. I also challenged points of fact that were inaccurate.

To do this I spoke to the cafcass officer that interviewed me about concerns regarding the accuracy of their report. I did not give them details of the inaccuracies. They provided me with an email address for their manager. I wrote to the manager, all of my alterations were accepted. A new document that gave a much better picture of me was provided to the court 48hrs before the hearing 😁.

Throughout my correspondence with cafcass I was obsequious to a fault, showered them with praise and gratitude as I requested amendments which were plainly a result of innocent oversight by good people. No harm in making clear how good their repirt is in other areas before hitting them with your extremely measured critique.
 
Was that for the initial safeguarding letter or the Section 7 Resolute?
 
Ash said:
Was that for the initial safeguarding letter or the Section 7 Resolute?
Click to expand...

Safeguarding letter, but it was under this rule:

"If you are not happy with the section 7 report


If you are unhappy about the report, it is important that you let the court know about your concerns. This ensures the judge is able to consider your concerns when making their decision.

If you think there are any factual inaccuracies, for example incorrect names or dates of birth, you should notify the Cafcass worker who wrote the report or their manager."

Section 7 report - Cafcass - Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service

What goes into a section 7 report? The Cafcass worker will decide what information they need for the report based on what the court has asked to look at.
www.cafcass.gov.uk www.cafcass.gov.uk

Same wording as I had for the Safeguarding Letter, a version of the rule was stated on the letter as well. It took a little bending, because I do not think they intend the rule to be used for omissions. But, careful presentation of the argument that omission created inaccuracy was successful.
 
Thank you all for the response.

By the way , just to give you another proof that the judge is extremely biased. The mother , her boyfriend and her family came outside my house and waited for me to arrive, long story short they smashed my car and my wife's (more details in previous post) mother was arrested as well as her boyfriend. It was a traumatic night for me , the children and my wife. (Kids were in the car with me)

At the fact finding they found true the allegations of the violent attack in my favour... But Judge agrees with the mother that mother was emotional and therefore the attack for justified....

I mean.... Can it get worse ??
 
That’s very difficult to comprehend, that a judge would state that violent/aggressive behaviour was ‘justified’.

I would consider applying for recusal of the judge based on such unacceptable comments by any standard.

It’s one thing to perhaps suggest he can understand some level of raised emotion or something along those lines. But to state that their appalling behaviour, in front of the children, was ‘justified’ is unacceptable and you can not possibly have faith that this judge will progress and rule in this case justly and appropriate if his/her views are so plainly inappropriate.

It is up to you, and I am only going by the limited words, context and details you have shared with us in this forum, but this is you children’s life and future we are talking about and tutu oh are fighting for. You can’t have this type of judge deciding it. I wouldn’t .
 
Dadoftwo said:
Thank you all for the response.

By the way , just to give you another proof that the judge is extremely biased. The mother , her boyfriend and her family came outside my house and waited for me to arrive, long story short they smashed my car and my wife's (more details in previous post) mother was arrested as well as her boyfriend. It was a traumatic night for me , the children and my wife. (Kids were in the car with me)

At the fact finding they found true the allegations of the violent attack in my favour... But Judge agrees with the mother that mother was emotional and therefore the attack for justified....

I mean.... Can it get worse ??
Click to expand...
So basically this judge is saying, mothers can do anything violent as they get emotional!? Madness. Yet again, if it had been you, it would be a different story.
What about her boyfriend!!
 
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