Claire Sanders reports on the complexities of high conflict cases
Who would want to be in the shoes of the judge who has to decide whether the residence of a 12 -year-old boy (S) should be transferred from his primary carer mother to his father from whom the child had become alienated and described as a “monster”? That was the unenviable position of HHJ Bellamy in the case of TE v SH and S [2010] EWHC 192.
S’s parents had separated before his birth and he had always lived with his mother (M). Children proceedings began when he was aged one. Although contact had taken place between S and his father (F) it had broken down in 2006 and no direct contact had taken place since.
Proceedings
It was found within the proceedings that S was alienated from F. The expert, Dr Weir described the concept of alienation as “children who show an extraordinary degree of animosity to a parent with whom they had once had a loving relationship”.
HHJ Bellamy held that the decision came down to a balancing of the risk of future
