The short answer is yes, and this is exactly what happened to a mother in a recent High Court case before Mrs Justice Lieven.
The teenager daughter also had to be removed into foster care as there was nobody else able to look after her whilst her mother was incarcerated. This decision highlights the serious consequences of failure to adhering to Family Court orders.
Whilst this is not considered to be a criminal conviction, Family Court judges do have the power to enforce orders by committing a party to prison and a court hearing called a committal hearing is held. The longest prison sentence that can be imposed is up to two years.
It is important to note that this is usually an absolute last resort in contempt proceedings where a party has been given several chances to abide to the Court orders.
This case
The circumstances in this case are that following a final hearing, the Judge ordered the mother to ensure that father was updated about his daughter in relation to important welfare updates on a monthly basis via his solicitor and also to allow the children’s guardian to carry out life story work to help the child know the identity of father to assist with understanding her identity and heritage.
These are the orders that the mother failed to comply with. It was the mother’s position that she felt that these steps would cause emotional harm to her daughter and therefore she chose to ignore the Court’s direction.
In the recent case, Mrs Justice Lieven made it clear that she was in an “invidious position” and was compelled to take serious consequences given the continued breaches of orders by the mother and previous decisions of the Court of Appeal.
The mother had already been found to be in contempt of court on three occasions previously for not following the court orders and had been fined twice for breaching the orders.
On the third occasion, the hearing was adjourned to allow the mother one final chance to comply with the orders however she continued to disregard them.
The case had also been heard a week earlier whereby the mother was given a 28-day suspended prison sentence as one last ditched attempt to give her a final chance to comply with the order.
This case is a stark reminder that court orders are there to be followed and cannot be disregarded just because a parent does not agree with the decision otherwise it can lead to far-reaching consequences such as a hefty fine, a child being removed into foster care or a prison sentence.
Next Steps…
Should you wish for any further information on a family law matter, please contact Timms Solicitors on freephone 0800 011 6666 or email legal@timms-law.com.
Alternatively, visit the Family Law section of our website.
