Overview
- Mr Justice Peel refused permission to challenge the surname decision, endorsing Judge Laura Moys’s view that a change would unjustifiably rupture the child’s connection to her paternal heritage.
- The court extended a non‑molestation order until 2027, citing an alleged breach by the father, a pending criminal trial, and a police investigation into historical rapes.
- Family court fact‑finding in 2023 recorded four very serious incidents of sexual abuse against the mother between 2015 and 2017, including rape, and noted threatening behavior in 2021.
- Judges criticized the father’s lack of insight, noting his continued denial of established findings and repeated use of the phrase “marital rape” in court despite directions to stop.
- The father was ordered to pay £5,000 toward the mother’s £13,000 legal costs, and the child has not seen him in person since December 2021.