PRESS RELEASE
5th April 2004

A 17 year old girl today condemned the Judge who last week said he was 'ashamed' at the treatment of a father who had been denied all contact with his daughter by the family justice system in a case he had ruled on.

Lisa Harris from Devon said the Judge concerned, Mr Justice Munby, 'should be ashamed - he let our whole family down and branded my dad a charlatan.'

Ms Harris said 'he said he was acting in our interests but stopped us from seeing dad even though we wanted to see him. He has ruined my family. I am very angry now that he has stopped another girl seeing her dad and is trying to blame somebody else. '

Mr Harris, a member of campaign group Fathers 4 Justice, spent 129 days in Pentonville Jail for trying to see his children MORE than the Court had sanctioned, which was SIX times per year, fully unsupervised, at his home. His case lasted 133 court appearances in front of 33 different judges and cost the taxpayer £750,000.

In an amazing turn around, two of his daughters ran away from their mother to live with him in breach of all court orders last year. Lisa now lives with her dad and both his other daughters live him 50% of the time.

Mr Harris said 'Last weeks judgement was history repeating itself only this time round Munby is trying to save his own bacon by blaming the system yet he has the authority to enforce his orders. He called me a charlatan but he ruined our family.'

'My case shows how Judges are acting AGAINST the best interests of the child. My daughters and I intend to confront him soon to ask him why he stopped them seeing their father. He has done nothing to help this poor father and only when the dad concerned gave up did Munby say he wished he could have helped him. He has destroyed another family.'

Background Info and LINKS:

2001- Judge Munby's order jails Mark Harris for 10 months (including four months for giving the children birthday presents, and 2 moths for waving 'hello').

2001- Judge Munby uses Joshua Rozenberg to publicly defame a father whose children want to see him.

2003: Mark Harris's children defy Judge Munby's wishes by voting with their feet to re-uninite with their Dad. The father who was jailed by Judge Munby to 4 months in jail for giving presents to his children, and two month for waving 'hello' is reunited with his children.

April 2004: Judge Munby launches an extraordinary attack on the family justice system for failing separated fathers and their children. He said he was ashamed. Read about Munby's extra-ordinary outburst

Mon, 05 Apr 2004: Lisa Harris, whose father had been jailed by Judge Munby to 10 months in for trying to see his children, and whom Munby had publicly defamed in the Daily Telegraph as a "charlatan", goes public with her anger at the Judge for stopping yet another girl seeing her dad while trying to blame somebody else for his own actions. Read the latest twist to Munby's attempt to evade the blame for putting the Family Courts into terminal decline here.