A five-year-old girl has been ordered by the High Court to keep the surname of her father, who was convicted of raping her mother. Mr Justice Peel ruled that the name forms a key part of the child's identity and heritage, despite the mother's argument that it retraumatises her.
The girl, referred to as D, has not seen her father since December 2021. The father was found to have committed four serious incidents of sexual abuse against the mother between 2015 and 2017, including rape. The court heard he refused to stop intercourse when the mother cried in pain and said no.
Charlotte Proudman, the mother's barrister, said: 'It just shows that a rapist's rights are more important than the victim's. This is abusive, state-sanctioned harm.' The court also heard the father threatened to kill the mother, her parents, and D during an argument in 2021.
In March, Judge Laura Moys ruled that changing D's surname would 'constitute a further rupture in the link she has to her father in a way that is not justified or proportionate'. Judge Peel upheld this decision on appeal, stating the lower judge had properly considered the abuse.
Both judges criticised the father for referring to the established findings as 'allegations of sexual harassment'. The appeal court refused permission to challenge the surname decision, citing 'no real prospect of success'. The father was ordered to pay £5,000 of the mother's £13,000 costs.
