sJudges seek protection from parent in 'unsafe' family courts
Judges convening over family courts need extra protection from parents unhappy at their decisions, it has been claimed.
7:00AM GMT 24 Dec 2012
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They claim that security arrangements during family cases are inadequate and leave officials open to attack.
District Judge Nicholas Crichton said “emotions run high” during family court cases and can trigger violent outbursts.
It is rare for judges to raise their concerns publicly but a number have taken the unusual step of speaking out to criticise security at the Principal Registry of the
Family Division (PRFD) in central London and also district courts around the country.
Judges told of parents shouting threats at them, as well as throwing books and cups.
One female judge was seriously injured in an attack.
"I have been threatened," said one, speaking under condition of anonymity to the Guardian.
"A very angry father stood up and shouted anti-Semitic threats at me. Another father threw a cup of water across the courtroom.
“Another parent threw a book but fortunately I was too far away for it to reach me."
Another judge, also speaking anonymously, said of the PRFD they were constantly “exposed” and there was no security in the courtroom.
“Sometimes we are in the courtroom alone with a parent. Most commonly, we sit with a clerk, who, in my experience, is always an elderly woman.
“If anything went wrong, believe you me, she would not be the one defending me.”
One circuit judge, who sits in county and crown courts and also in the family division in London, said security arrangements were inadequate.
"These are the most volatile, sensitive courts in the land, and one of these days there's going to be trouble in them,” he said.
“The risks are not being addressed properly and unless someone starts considering the security properly then it's a disaster waiting to happen.
“It will take one serious incident and someone will wake up to the fact that the current system is not safe for family judges.”
Judges complained that county courts often do not have both a courtroom and a retiring room for district judges.
A family judge at a court in outer London said: "People blow up in court – of course they do – we're taking their children away.
“We do have security in my court but they consist of very elderly men and a couple of young girls.
“The fact that it has not happened so far doesn't mean that it won't."
District Judge Nicholas Crichton, founder of the family drug and alcohol court at Wells Street family proceedings court in central London, who was given a CBE in this year's Queen's birthday honours list, said it was a "recipe for flashpoint" to compel judges to walk through public areas and share corridors.
Crichton said it was unfair to put parents, already in a state of great anxiety, under the added stress of proximity with the judge ruling on their case.
"Emotions run high," he said. "These parents are coming to court feeling criticised about how they treat their children and terrified they're going to have their children removed.
“That's a pretty toxic mix, but they're not criminals. Everything they have read in the paper and on TV leads them to be frightened of coming to court."
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