On 14 September 2026 Mr Justice Macdonald decided a mother's appeal against a child arrangements order that provides for contact to move from supervised to unsupervised after findings of domestic abuse.
Key facts
- Who: Parents and families in child arrangements cases where a court has made findings of domestic abuse.
- From: Judgment dated 14 September 2026
- Source: B v N (Domestic Abuse and Unsupervised Contact), Re [2026] EWHC 2362 (Fam)
The High Court (Family Division) gave judgment in B v N (Domestic Abuse and Unsupervised Contact), Re [2026] EWHC 2362 (Fam) on 14 September 2026, after a hearing on 10 September 2026. It was an appeal from HHJ Cronin, sitting in the Family Court at Bristol. The family is anonymised, so the parents appear as B (the mother) and N (the father), and their child as T.
Background. The parents' relationship began in 2017 and ended in April 2022. Direct contact between T and his father broke down in August 2023, and the father applied to the court in January 2024.
After a fact-finding hearing, the court found in October 2024 that the father had been physically violent and abusive towards the mother throughout the relationship, and emotionally, verbally and psychologically abusive. The judge did not find that he had been coercive and controlling.
By agreement, T lived with his mother and had supervised contact with his father. The court directed the father to apply for two identified domestic abuse perpetrators programmes; the judge later approved a single course. He attended eight of nine sessions but completed only the first of its six objectives. The provider's report said he believed he was the victim, and the programme was closed as unsuitable for him.
Cafcass recommended professionally supervised contact, no more often than monthly, until the father had completed the recommended work and shown changed behaviour. The Cafcass adviser told the court that, for contact to be safe under Practice Direction 12J, there needed to be evidence that T would not be exposed to unpredictable, aggressive, intimidating or violent behaviour.
The order under appeal. After a final hearing on 9 and 10 June 2026, HHJ Cronin made an order dated 10 June 2026. T was to live with his mother. In default of agreement, contact was to take place at least monthly, starting at a contact centre with supervision. It was then to move in stages: supervised sessions in the community, then sessions without supervision, then longer sessions without supervision.
The appeal. The judge refused the mother permission to appeal. Morgan J granted it on the papers on 10 August 2026, on Grounds 3, 4 and 6 only. The mother asked the High Court to allow the appeal and to make the order Cafcass had recommended instead. The father, who represented himself with a McKenzie Friend, asked the court to uphold the order.
What this means for parents in child arrangements disputes
The case shows how findings of domestic abuse, and any work a court directs afterwards, can feature in decisions about when contact moves beyond supervision. In this case the Cafcass evidence looked at whether the father had shown insight and changed behaviour.
Anyone with questions about a child arrangements order or an appeal should get legal advice before any deadline passes, and read the full judgment for the court's decision and its reasons.
Sources
- B v N (Domestic Abuse and Unsupervised Contact), Re [2026] EWHC 2362 (Fam), High Court (Family Division), 14 September 2026