The Family Law Company was instructed by a heavily pregnant mother who was seeking a Non-Molestation order against her former partner as a result of physical violence and ongoing harassment that included threatening text messages, telephone calls and messages through third parties. The police had been informed of some incidents, and Social Services had carried out an assessment and made recommendations to the mother including stopping contact with the father due to the risk of further violence to mother and unborn child.
We sent a pre-action letter to the father asking him to stop causing our client distress, setting out the behaviour being complained of and advising him to seek his own legal advice. The father ignored this and started attending places where he knew she would be including her place of work and her home. As there was a risk of harm to the mother and unborn child, we made an application to the court for a Non-Molestation Order with the support of the Social Services report. At the ‘without notice’ hearing the Judge was satisfied that all steps had been taken to forewarn the father about his behaviour and that the actions being complained of met with the legal criteria for the court to grant an interim order to protect the mother. At the return hearing, the father consented to the continuation of the order in the terms initially granted by the Judge. Our client went on to successfully deliver a healthy baby and move on with her life.
