Tuesday
1st April 2003
Liverpool:
Third F4J Demo keeps CAFCASS failures in the public eye
The
third demo across the UK against Cafcass, following on from previous
action at Ipswich and Portsmouth
continous to pile on the humiliation of CAFCASS
with good press coverage.
Here the report from the Liverpool Echo:
Dads'
fury over rights of access Apr 2 2003
By
Catherine Jones & Sam Lister Echo Reporters
CAMPAIGNERS protested at a children's court service on the anniversary
of its formation, claiming hundreds of parents are denied access
rights.
Dozens of protesters
travelled to Liverpool from across Britain to highlight the plight
of fathers who have had a rough deal from the Children and Family
Court Advisory Support Service.
Cafcass was
formed on April 1 2001. Its critics claim an estimated 100 children
a day lose contact with parents and grandparents as a result of
reports compiled by people they say are not given enough training.
Protest group
Fathers 4 Justice says 40% of fathers lose contact with their children
after just two years. Members demonstrated outside Cafcass's Dale
Street office yesterday.
Liverpool co-ordinator
Pete Molloy said: "Cafcass really are the weakest link.
"We want
to send out a warning to people in Liverpool that they are at risk
of being denied access to their children in the event that when
a relationship between parents breaks down, they find themselves
at the mercy of Cafcass and the Family Courts.
"A parent
can be removed from their child's life based on a report written
by an exprobation officer used to dealing with criminals, who received
little or no training, and who has no guidelines or set standards."
Father-of-one
Richie Welsh, from Halewood, said: "This is the first time
I've done anything like this but it won't be the last because people
need to be made aware of what's going on in the family courts.
"I want
to see properly trained people in Cafcass and I want an end to the
bias in the system."
A spokeswoman
for Cafcass said: "We condemn any personal harassment of our
staff or criminal damage to our property.
"We recognise
that some-times parents do not agree with the decisions taken by
the court on residence and contact issues, but would encourage individuals
to follow established complaints procedures."
* To
contact Fathers 4 Justice, call Steve Dennett on 0870 794 7303.
previous
CAFCASS protests>
PRIVATE EYE piece on CAFCASS Read
more 
And
finally
:
First
CAFCASS Worker gets sentenced for perjury. perverting the
course
of Justice, lies and abusing position of trust.
Read
the story
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