Fathers meet with local MP

>A clevedon man took his fight for equal rights for fathers to Woodspring MP Dr Liam Fox last week.

Nigel Ace, who protested on Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman’s roof last year, saw Dr Fox to explain the legal difficulties some fathers face.

He and another New Fathers 4 Justice campaigner from Bristol, Jeff Skinner, met Dr Fox at his surgery on Friday night in Pill. They explained how they want an equal parity of rights for dads to see their children and to make the ‘secret’ family courts ‘open’.

Mr Ace said he was encouraged by Dr Fox’s response. He said: “Jeff and I have had over 60 court cases between us.”

He added that he hoped the Tories would improve fathers’ rights.

He said: “Once this happens, then we will hang up our superhero outfits and enjoy the time with our kids.”

Dads Meet Liam Fox , MP

>Two New Fathers 4 Justice campaigners, Nigel Ace from Clevedon and Jeff Skinner from Staple Hill met Liam Fox MP at his surgery on Friday night in Pill.

The superhero’s wanted to ask Mr. Fox for an equal parity of rights for dads to see their children and to make the ‘secret’ family courts ‘open’.

The dads last month confronted Mr. Skinner’s MP Roger ‘The Dodger’ Berry and got a frosty reception, however they were very heartened as Mr. Fox said that 50/50 status for dads was fair and only right.

He also agreed for the family courts to be brought in line with the crown and magistrates courts.

Nigel Ace, a protester from Harriet Harman’s roof last year said “Why has it taken so long for common sense to prevail. Mr. Fox has brought common sense and a breath of fresh air into this debate”.

“We can now look forward to having equal status, same as Mum’s and this will stop many of the 100,000 new child contact dispute cases that come to court each year in the UK.”

“Jeff and I have had over 60 court cases between us!!! Jeff fought for 8 years and me a meagre 2 1/2 years….but it looks like when the conservatives come to power, that cases like ours will be over”

“Once this happens, then we will hang up our superhero outfits and enjoy the time with our kids!!”

Cairfax Tower Press

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Fathers’ activist seeking £100,000

>Fathers’ activist seeking £100,000

A fathers’ rights campaigner is launching a bid to claim back more than £100,000 he says he lost fighting an eight-year legal battle for access to his daughter, writes Edd Moore.

The Herald revealed in August how Jonathan ‘Jolly’ Stanesby, 39, pictured, had secured joint residence to have equal care of his 10-year-old daughter after a high-profile wrangle with the family courts.

A founding member of the Fathers 4 Justice campaign group, he was jailed last year after camping out on deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman’s roof dressed as a superhero.

But now Jolly, from Ivybridge, is taking his fight back into court – to claim back almost a decade’s-worth of lost earnings and legal fees.

He described himself as ’emotionally drained’ and said the gruelling eight-year process had forced him to give up work and sell land, leaving him crippled by debt.

Now settling into being a dad again, Jolly says he is looking to retrain for a new career and put some cash away for his daughter, and plans to do that by taking the Ministry of Justice to court for more than £100,000.

“A lot of what I’ve lost is priceless,” he said. “The time my daughter missed out on you can’t put a price on. Then you’ve got my loss of wages over four or five years, legal fees and all the phone calls since it began eight years ago.

“It’s amazing how it all adds up. I’ll never be able to put a figure on it.”

Jolly is now submitting an application to Plymouth County Court in the hope of fixing a date for a directions hearing.

He said he would take his new battle as far as it would go.

Jolly admitted his long battle with the family courts, which began in 2001, had left him ‘completely destroyed’, but even more determined to raise awareness of fathers’ rights.

“I’ve lost everything and now I’ve got to restart everything I’d done,” Jolly said. “I’ve gone back 10 years in my life.

“I lost my job, they took my driving licence away, my credit rating was destroyed and I went to prison.

“That means I can never work in childcare, which is what I really wanted to do: but at the end of the day, I’m lucky.

“A lot of people don’t fight the family courts, and at least now I get to see my daughter.

“All the time she’s missed out on seeing me and all the things she’s missed out on doing you can’t put a price on. I used to keep animals and we’d go camping and all the things she’d love to experience.

“When you spend eight years going through this, you have to think about where the money’s coming from to feed yourself.

“I’ve got to retrain, but it’s not easy because I’m not a teenager any more,” he said. “I’ve looked at going to university but it’s very tough with the cost.”

Jolly said a fellow-Fathers 4 Justice campaigner had spent £250,000 on legal fees during his own custody battle.

“Most people who go through the family courts are so exhausted they just want an end to it and to cut their losses,” he added, “but the way I feel is, I’ve got a 10-year-old daughter with her whole life ahead of her and it’s only fair I try and give something back to her. That’s the reason I’m doing this.”

Southampton Protest

New Fathers 4 Justice protest hijacks city Walls

CAMPAIGNERS from New Fathers 4 Justice dressed up as superheroes to hijack Southampton’s old town walls in noisy protest this afternoon.

The protestors donned Batman, Superman, and Spiderman costumes and unfurled banners from the bridge near the city’s historic Bargate demanding equal rights for dads over a megaphone.

Shoppers and motorists passing below waved or honked in support while around half a dozen police gathered close by.

The demonstration, which went off peacefully, was being held in support of Lee Moorman, 30, from Chandlers Ford, who is battling for equal contact with his son.

Devon dad Mark Harris author of ‘Family Court Hell’ who was jailed for waving to his kids also set fire to wheelbarrow of his court contact papers, a case which cost the taxpayer over a million pounds and lasted 10 years.

New Fathers 4 Justice protest in Southampton for Chandler’s Ford dad Lee Moorman

>BATMAN, Superman, Captain America, and Spiderman joined forces for a protest in Southampton.

The “superheroes” from New Fathers 4 Justice hijacked the city’s old town walls near the Bargate in support of Chandler’s Ford dad Lee Moorman, 30, who is fighting for access to his child.
Motorists passing below honked their support while around half a dozen police gathered close by.

The protesters unfurled banners from the bridge over Castle Way and demanded equal rights for fathers over a megaphone.

Mr Moorman said he was having “sleepless nights” after last seeing his three-year old son in July. He said he wanted joint custody not a couple of hours access in a contact centre.

“I’ve got to go to the family courts which I’m told will be a lengthy process and cost a lot of money.”

Mr Moorman said he was planning a monthly support group in Southampton. He was joined by protester Mark Harris, 50, who said he needed 133 court hearings to win the right to see his children.

The former Shirley resident set fire to a wheelbarrow of the court papers he accumulated over his ten-year battle as a show of disgust for the “biased” family courts.

Mr Harris was one of the protesters who last year scaled the roof of deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman’s home while she and her husband were inside.

Bristol fathers quiz MP over parental access rights

>Two New Fathers 4 Justice campaigners paid a costumed visit to Kingswood MP Roger Berry to “put him on the spot” about parental access.

Dressed as Batman and Spiderman, Jeffrey Skinner, aged 42, of Staple Hill and Nigel Ace, 41, of Clevedon, said they wanted to challenge the MP on Labour’s views about the rights of fathers.

Mr Skinner, who is a constituent of Mr Berry, said: “All we want is an automatic presumption of 50/50 contact as a starting point when the parents split. Dads should have the same rights as mums in order to see the children.

“Giving us what we want will reduce the 100,000 new child contact cases that come into the courts each year in the UK.

“All we want is equality – it’s not a new concept, is it?

“Mr Berry asked us what we wanted. I was flabbergasted as we have been saying the same thing to the Labour party for seven years.”

Mr Berry said the visit was an arranged appointment with his constituent, who he had last seen five years ago.

He said: “I firmly believe that it is the rights of the child which should be paramount.

“There are people who are good parents and there are people who are bad parents; it would be absurd to impose an automatic 50/50 split if it wasn’t in the child’s interest.

“Ninety per cent of the time when parents split the issue doesn’t go to court but unfortunately in 10 per cent of cases the state must have a responsibility first and foremost to the child.”

Mr Berry added that he was always prepared to listen to anyone about any issues and had offered to take any proposed changes in law to discuss with the Secretary of State for Justice, Jack Straw.

The pair said they will follow this up with a similar meeting next week with Mr Ace’s MP, Woodspring Tory Liam Fox, in Nailsea.