Dad's bid to stop children's Australia move fails

A father who tried to stop his two children and their mother moving to Australia has lost his legal battle to keep them in the UK.

A judge found the boy and girl's relationship with their father remains "very fragile" after they believed he had reneged on an agreement to try to move to the country.

Judge Joanna Vincent found that while their move to Australia would leave the father "devastated", she also had to consider the children, their mother and their Australian stepfather.

A social worker had warned against allowing the move Down Under on the basis it could damage the children's long-term health and educational attainment at Reading's Family Court last month.

But the judge found had the children and their mother been forced to stay in the UK, that too could cause harm and no future permanent reconciliation with their father is guaranteed.

She found the children were "wholly invested in wanting to live in Australia" and in joining their stepfather, who has already returned to his home country.

The children's parents separated in 2017 and divorced in 2018, the court heard.

The judge found the mother was a reliable witness and the children "come first, middle and last for her".

But she found their father's evidence was at times "inconsistent and confused" and that he had not properly explored relocating to Australia, as claimed.

Judge Vincent also added that the children had felt their father's feelings "have come before theirs" previously.

"They perceive [their father's] motivation in opposing the application to be that he puts his own wishes for them to stay ahead of their strongly expressed wish to move to Australia," she added.

In a judgement published late last month, she granted the children and their mother permission to move to Australia this month, ahead of a new school year in February.

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