A father lost his temper in a Newport family court hearing, hurling abuse at a barrister as she questioned him about his baby daughter's unexplained broken leg. The couple are fighting to keep custody of the child, who suffered a severe fracture to her femur when she was little more than a month old.
Experts have said the father's explanation – that he was moving her legs in a “bicycle motion” when he heard a “pop” – fails to account for the “highly suspicious” injury. The baby, now a few months old, has been out of her parents' care since being taken to hospital.
Abuse directed at barrister
During the fact-finding hearing, the father repeatedly called council barrister Hayley Daniel a “t***” and a “tramp”. His outbursts came as she questioned him about phone evidence suggesting he had been violent to his partner and had threatened to kill her. Texts also showed he had sent other men “vivid descriptions” of her sexually transmitted infections and had threatened to post intimate images of her online.
“It starts to build a very good picture of what you're like, which is an angry, violent man,” said Ms Daniel. “That was the reality for [the baby] wasn't it? Shouting, violence, threats.” The father denied this. He has previously spent time in prison for dealing Class A drugs.
History of concerns
Torfaen council first became aware of the couple when the father was due to be released from jail. He had told the probation service he would be living with the mother, who was pregnant at the time. An assessment took into account the mother's history of mental health difficulties and childhood trauma, but concluded she was “preparing appropriately” for the baby's arrival. The father was also found to be taking positive steps. The case was later closed.
Anonymous referrals then accused the couple of using cannabis. The mother was given advice about risks to the unborn baby and vowed to find “healthier coping strategies”. The case was closed again after two further complaints of cannabis being smoked inside the property, which the parents called “malicious”.
Injury and hospital concerns
When the baby was a few weeks old, her leg was broken. The father said he had been changing her nappy and “bicycling” her legs, claiming there was a “clicking” sensation. No one else was present, he said. Ms Daniel said: “Health professionals have advised that this explanation is not medically plausible to the extent of the injury.”
The mother noticed the baby was only kicking with one leg. At 6.50am the next day she texted her mother saying the baby had been “screaming in pain all night and only moving one leg any time I touch her or move her leg”. The text added: “She's screaming again. [The dad] changed her legs clicking it's clearly broken.” The couple waited until 10.30am, when the grandmother came to the home and took the baby to hospital.
At the hospital, there were concerns about “an altercation between the parents” in which a loud bang was heard before the father was seen walking away. Three incidents of parents “arguing, shouting and swearing” in front of the baby were reported. Family members also expressed concerns that the mother was “not engaging or caring for the baby” and wanted to leave to spend time with the father. Police powers of protection were put in place, and the parents were told to leave the hospital. The child protection medical concluded the leg break was “highly suspicious of non-accidental injury”.
Drug tests and other allegations
Court-ordered drug tests over the following weeks indicated the father had cocaine, ketamine, cannabis and codeine in his system. The mother's test showed she had ingested cannabis and had been exposed to cocaine. A radiologist found the bicycling motion could have caused the injury but would have required “excessive” force, and the baby would have shown immediate distress. There was also concern over bleeding from the baby's mouth, likely due to an injury inside it, but a paediatrician could not determine a cause.
The council said there are ongoing investigations into an allegation that the father sexually abused one of his female relatives. This emerged after she called a mental health helpline saying she was suicidal and tormented by flashbacks to the alleged abuse.
WalesOnline attended part of the hearing, where the father shouted obscenities at Ms Daniel. He admitted his relationship with his girlfriend could be toxic and that he often called her the c-word, a tramp and a rat. Judge Jonathan Holmes said he would interject if he deemed questions irrelevant. The father replied: “I won't f***ing answer them. Crack on. Next question.”
Five days before the baby's birth, the father had texted the mother: “Watch now, I'll come batter you.” He claimed not to remember this and refused to answer follow-up questions. When the judge told him to answer, he smacked his hand on a courtroom table and shouted: “Take it how you want to take it.” In other texts he had told his then-pregnant girlfriend she would “die tonight” and that he would “batter” her with a hammer and leave her dead in a road. When questioned, he said: “Is she dead? They're just words.”
Ms Daniel brought up the “vile” messages he had sent other men about his girlfriend's sexually transmitted infections. The father said he hadn't been “thinking” when he sent them. When asked if he had ever been violent to the mother, he claimed he could not remember. Ms Daniel pointed to a text from the mother from when the baby was two weeks old, referencing him hitting and strangling her, and saying: “You did this to me twice while I was pregnant and you've done it now in front of your daughter.”
Sucking on the lid of a Lucozade drink bottle, the father told the barrister: “F*** you.” The judge intervened: “Do you understand the severity of the matters I'm deciding? Your daughter sustained a displaced fracture of the femur. This is your chance to give me the best evidence you can. I am being extremely lenient with you.”
When Ms Daniel suggested the father had been violent to his dog, he replied: “If my dog does wrong I'm gonna slap him. How else are you gonna punish a dog?” He admitted washing the dog with bleach and putting him in bed. He also said he had “no respect for animals, property or authority”, replying: “No, definitely not.”
The court gave WalesOnline a date for the judgment, but when the hearing took place on September 17, Judge Holmes did not read it out. He said a written version had been sent to all parties, and then ended the hearing. WalesOnline has been attempting to obtain a copy of the judgment to report the judge's findings. The court said there have been discussions about what we should be “privy to”.
