The Courts and Tribunals Bill has completed its final stages in the Commons this week, marking a significant change to the law around the presumption of parental involvement in family courts. The legislation is the result of a 12-year campaign by Claire Throssell from Penistone, near Barnsley.
Ms Throssell began her campaign after her sons, Jack, 12, and Paul, nine, were killed by their father, Darren Sykes, during an unsupervised contact visit on 22 October 2014. The visit had been sanctioned by the family court despite evidence of Sykes's abusive behaviour towards his sons and Ms Throssell.
Ms Throssell believes the change will ensure that abusers known to the courts will not have automatic access to their children, thereby enhancing child safety. However, the Conservatives tabled an amendment to retain the presumption of contact, with South West Devon MP Rebecca Smith questioning the necessity of removing it, arguing that courts already have powers to restrict unsafe contact.
Ultimately, the removal of the presumption of contact was voted through.