Douglas Kennedy - A Special Relationship

En route back, we fell silent until we reached the court. At which point Sandy asked, 'Can I sit next to you for the judgment?'

'I'd like that'.

Tony and his team were already in place when we got back. But I noticed that Diane Dexter was now sitting next to their solicitor. Maeve was in the front row next to Nigel. No one greeted each other. No one said a thing. Sandy and I sat down. I took a few deep breaths, trying to stay calm. But no one in this room was calm. The aura of fear was everywhere.

Five minutes went by, then ten. Still, we all sat there in silence. Because what else could we do? Then the clerk entered. And we all stood up. Traynor walked slowly to the bench, a folder held between his long, elegant fingers. He bowed. He sat down. We bowed. We all sat down. He opened his file. He started reading. As he began his recitation, I remember what Maeve told me some days earlier.

'In the course of his judgment, he may make what he refers to as "findings". These are considered to be, in legal terms, irrefutable facts - which essentially means that, once made, they cannot be challenged'.

But from the outset, he let it be known that he wasn't pleased with the entire tone of the case.

'Let me say at the start that, in the two brief days of this Final Hearing, we have had much dirty linen washed in a most public way. We have learned that Mr Hobbs has had two children by two different women, and that he forged no relationship with these children. We've learned that Mr Hobbs's new partner, Ms Dexter, had a drug addiction problem, which she courageously overcame after it caused her to miscarry a child. And I must say, I found Ms Dexter's candour about her past addictions both courageous and exemplary. She was a most impressive witness...'

Oh, God...

'Since then, as we've also learned, Ms Dexter has gone to extreme lengths to have children... to the point where, if the respondent's counsel is to be believed, she was willing to conspire with her partner to snatch his son away from her mother, on allegedly trumped-up charges of threatened child abuse'.

Sandy glanced at me. Traynor had just hinted that he hadn't bought our case.

'We have learned that, over twenty years ago, Ms Goodchild handed her father a drink which may - or may not - have put him over the legal limit, and may, or may not, have contributed to the fatal accident in which he was killed along with his wife and two innocent people.

'And we've also learned that Ms Dexter and Mr Hobbs weren't particularly honest about the actual duration of their relationship... though, in truth, the court can't really see the importance of whether they were first intimate three years ago or just three months ago'.

Another nervous glance between Sandy and myself. I glanced around the court. Everyone had their heads lowered, as if we were at church.

'And I say that because, amidst all the evidence of the last two days, the central issue has been obscured: what is best for the child? That is the one and only issue here. Everything else, in the opinion of the court, is extraneous.

'Now, without question, the relationship between a mother and her child is the most pivotal one in life. One might go as far as to use the word "primordial" to describe this immense bond. The mother brings us into life, she suckles us, she nurtures us in the most critical early stages of our existence. For this reason, the law is most reluctant to disturb, let alone rupture, this primordial relationship - unless the trust which society places in a mother has been profoundly breached.

'Earlier today, counsel for the applicant outlined the "accusations" - as she called them - against the respondent. And it must be acknowledged that these accusations are most grave and serious. Just as it must also be acknowledged that the respondent was suffering from a severe clinical disorder that impaired her judgment, and also caused her to behave in a thoroughly irrational way.

'But while acknowledging said clinical condition, can the court risk jeopardizing the child's welfare? This is the central dilemma that the court has had to address. Just as it has also had to study whether the child's welfare will be better served by being placed in the care of its father and his new partner - a woman who may claim to be his surrogate mother, but who will never, in the eyes of this court, be considered so'.

He paused. He looked up over his glasses in my direction.

'Threatening a child's life - even in delusional anger - is a most serious matter...'

Sandy reached over and clasped my hand, as if to say: I'll be holding you as he sends you over the edge.

'Doing so twice is profoundly worrying. So too is poisoning a child with sleeping tablets - even though it was the result of a befuddled accident.

'But are these actions enough to break that primordial bond between mother and child? Especially when questions must be raised about the ulterior motives of the child's father, and the real reasons for the legal action he took eight months ago to gain residence of the child?

'Ultimately, however, we turn, once again, to the heart of the matter: if the mother is granted sole or shared residence of the child, will she act on the threats she made earlier? Shouldn't we be prudent in this case, and thus breach that primordial maternal bond, in order to serve the best interests of the child?'

Traynor paused and sipped at a glass of water. In front of me, Nigel Clapp put his hand to his face. Because that last sentence had given the game away. We'd lost.

Traynor put the water down and continued to read.

'These are the questions that the court has had to ponder. Large, taxing questions. And yet, when all the evidence is carefully studied, there is a clear answer to all these questions'.

I bowed my head. Here it was now. Finally. The judgment upon me.

'And so, after due consideration, I find that the mother, Ms Goodchild, did not intend to harm her child, and was not responsible for her actions during this period, as she was suffering from a medically diagnosed depression.

'I also find that the father, Mr Hobbs, has done everything he can to sever the bond between the mother and the child. As such, I find that the motivations of Mr Hobbs - and of his partner, Ms Dexter - in claiming that the child was at risk were not wholly altruistic ones. And I also find that they manipulated the truth for their own gain'.

Sandy was now squeezing my hand so hard I was certain she was about to break several bones. But I didn't care.

'These are the reasons why it is the decision of this court that this child must see and spend substantial time with both parents...'

He stopped for just a second or two, but it felt like a minute:

'... but that I grant residence of the child to the mother'.

There was a long, shocked silence, broken by Traynor.

'As I also find that there was malice directed against the respondent, I order that the applicant pay the respondent's costs'.

Lucinda Fforde was instantly on her feet.

'I seek leave to appeal'.

Traynor peered down at her. And said, 'Leave refused'.

He gathered up his papers. He removed his half-moon glasses. He looked out at our stunned faces. He said, 'If there is no further business, I will rise'.

Fifteen

SIX WEEKS LATER, London had a heatwave. It lasted nearly a week. The mercury hovered in the early eighties, the sky was a cloudless hard dome of blue, and the sun remained an incandescent presence above the city.

'Isn't this extraordinary?' I said on the fifth day of high temperatures and no rain.

'It'll break any moment', Julia said. 'And then we'll be back to the grey norm'.

'True - but I'm not going to think about that right now'.

We were in Wandsworth Park. It was late afternoon. Around a half-hour earlier, Julia had knocked on my door and asked me if I was up for a walk. I pushed aside the new manuscript I was working on, moved Jack from his playpen to his pushchair, grabbed my sunglasses and my hat, and headed off with her. By the time we reached the park, Jack had fallen asleep. Parking ourselves on a grassy knoll by the river, Julia reached into her shoulder bag, and emerged with two wine glasses and a chilled bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.