HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Fathers 4 Justice (or F4J) is a fathers’ rights organisation in the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Founded in 2001, the group aims to gain public and parliamentary support for changes in UK legislation on fathers' rights, mainly using stunts and protests, often conducted in costume. Former F4J members, who do not agree with Matt O'Connor's leadership, formed the
New Fathers 4 Justice New Fathers 4 Justice is a UK-based direct action fathers' rights group campaigning for the rights of fathers to see their children. It is a splinter group of Fathers 4 Justice. History New Fathers 4 Justice (NF4J) is a fathers' rights group. I ...
group, in 2008.


History

Fathers 4 Justice was founded in the UK by Matt O'Connor, a marketing consultant.Deborah Ros
"Matt O'Connor: The man behind Fathers4Justice"
''The Independent'', 4 July 2006
He is the sole shareholder and a director of Fathers For Justice Ltd. Fathers For Justice stated aim is to champion the causes of equal parenting, family law reform, and equal contact for divorced parents with children. It is best known for its campaigning techniques of protest stunts, with participants often dressed as comic superheroes, and frequently climbing public buildings, bridges, and monuments. Stunts have included supporters forcibly entering courts dressed in
Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...
outfits, putting the Government's Minister for Children in handcuffs, and group member Jason Hatch climbing onto Buckingham Palace dressed as Batman. They have also protested by handcuffing two other government ministers. Former members of the group have claimed Fathers4Justice/the Matt O' Connor family, have "lost its way" by being sidetracked from reforming family law, and descending into personal attacks on Twitter, libel (for which they were sued), and allegations of illegal acts such as putting an MP under surveillance and tracking her movements with a
GPS tracking unit A GPS tracking unit, geotracking unit, satellite tracking unit, or simply tracker is a navigation device normally on a vehicle, asset, person or animal that uses satellite navigation to determine its movement and determine its WGS84 UTM g ...
.


Activities

On 17 December 2002, O'Connor and a small group of supporters staged their first protest by storming the
Lord Chancellor's Office The Lord Chancellor's Department was a United Kingdom government department answerable to the Lord Chancellor with jurisdiction over England and Wales. Created in 1885 as the Lord Chancellor's Office with a small staff to assist the Lord Chancell ...
dressed as
Father Christmas Father Christmas is the traditional English name for the personification of Christmas. Although now known as a Christmas gift-bringer, and typically considered to be synonymous with Santa Claus, he was originally part of a much older and unrela ...
. In January 2003, O'Connor officially founded Fathers 4 Justice. The group targeted the homes of family court judges, and family lawyers' homes and offices, with protests. On 21 October 2003, campaigners Eddie "Goldtooth" Gorecki and Jonathan "Jolly" Stanesby scaled the
Royal Courts of Justice The Royal Courts of Justice, commonly called the Law Courts, is a court building in Westminster which houses the High Court and Court of Appeal of England and Wales. The High Court also sits on circuit and in other major cities. Designed by Ge ...
, dressed respectively as Batman and Robin. The following day, the group's members protested through London in a military
tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...
in support of Goreckwi and Stanesby. Nine days later, David Chick climbed a crane near
Tower Bridge Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames clos ...
, London while dressed as Spider-Man. The Metropolitan Police set up a cordon around the area that disrupted traffic through some of East London for several days. Chick was subsequently cleared of criminal charges and published a ghost-written autobiography in February 2006. On the morning of 22 December 2003, four campaigners — Eddie Gorecki, Jolly Stanesby, Michael Sadeh and Steve Battlershill — dressed as Father Christmas and climbed Tower Bridge in London. They hung up a banner calling for the resignation of the Minister for Children,
Margaret Hodge Dame Margaret Eve Hodge, Lady Hodge, (née Oppenheimer, formerly Watson; born 8 September 1944) is a British politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Barking since 1994. A member of the Labour Party, she previously served as ...
, whom they held responsible for perceived inequalities in family law. The four were charged with
conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agre ...
, but the charge was dropped at the start of the trial a year later. In 2004, Stanesby carried out a "
citizen's arrest A citizen's arrest is an arrest made by a private citizen – that is, a person who is not acting as a sworn law-enforcement official. In common law jurisdictions, the practice dates back to medieval England and the English common law, in which ...
" of Hodge at a conference, handcuffing himself to her and stating: "Margaret Hodge, I'm arresting you for covering up child abuse." Both Stanseby and Jason Hatch (who had also attempted to handcuff himself to Hodge) were later cleared by a jury of charges of
false imprisonment False imprisonment or unlawful imprisonment occurs when a person intentionally restricts another person’s movement within any area without legal authority, justification, or the restrained person's permission. Actual physical restraint is ...
. On 19 May 2004, an alert was caused when two members of the group threw purple
flour bomb Flour bomb is a fragile container (e.g. a paper bag) filled with flour for the purpose to be thrown at a person or object to cause an inconvenient and messy stain, called flour bombing. Flour bombs and flour bombing are a classic protest method ...
s at
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
during
Prime Minister's Questions Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs, officially known as Questions to the Prime Minister, while colloquially known as Prime Minister's Question Time) is a constitutional convention in the United Kingdom, currently held as a single session every W ...
at the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
. Charged with
public order In criminology, public-order crime is defined by Siegel (2004) as "crime which involves acts that interfere with the operations of society and the ability of people to function efficiently", i.e., it is behaviour that has been labelled criminal ...
offences, activist Guy Harrison was fined £600, and Ron Davis given a
conditional discharge A discharge is a type of sentence imposed by a court whereby no punishment is imposed. An absolute discharge is an unconditional discharge whereby the court finds that a crime has technically been committed but that any punishment of the defend ...
. Following the House of Commons incident, ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' wrote that the group "has succeeded in becoming the most prominent guerrilla pressure group in Britain ... within eighteen months of its founding". In September 2004, member Jason Hatch climbed the walls of Buckingham Palace dressed as Batman. All charges relating to his protest were later dropped. Also in September, David Chick climbed the London Eye, forcing the attraction to close. He was found not guilty of charges of causing a public nuisance. In May 2005, campaigners dressed as superheroes protested on top of the
Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...
in
Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...
during the
World Snooker Championship The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it ...
. Five years later, campaigners interrupted an interview with
Steve Davis Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World S ...
, causing the BBC to cut to a pre-recorded video segment. Protester Ray Barry climbed St Peter's Collegiate Church in
Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...
on Fathers Day in 2005. He was cleared of a charge of a public order offence, and then repeated the protest on
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
. On 27 September 2005, protester Guy Harrison climbed the Palace of Westminster unveiling a banner stating "Does Blair care? For
Fawkes Fawkes is a surname of Norman-French origin, first appearing in the British Isles after the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. The surname may be a corruption of the Norman surname Vaux, which means valley. Notably, Guy Fawkes was sometimes rec ...
sake change family law". A jury acquitted him of the charge of committing a public nuisance offence. In November 2005, the group received negative publicity when the prime-time ITV programme ''
Tonight With Trevor McDonald ''Tonight'' (often referred to as ''The Tonight Programme'') is a British current affairs programme, produced by ITV Studios (formerly Granada Television) and ITN for the ITV network, replacing the long-running investigative series ''World ...
'' appeared to expose some of its members as violent and obnoxious in their behaviour. However, counter-claims have been made that these individuals were never members in the first place and that the programme gave no right to reply. Some members were expelled, but the organisation defended its position and attacked the documentary. On 23 November 2005, Fathers 4 Justice ended its truce with the
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is a non-departmental public body in England set up to promote the welfare of children and families involved in family court. It was formed in April 2001 under the provisions ...
(CAFCASS) and the Child Support Agency (CPS), calling for a public inquiry into family law. During January 2006, the newspaper '' The Sun'' published a story in which it claimed F4J members planned to kidnap Leo Blair, the young son of former Prime Minister
Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He previously served as Leader of th ...
"for a few hours as a symbolic gesture". The police said they were aware of such a plan, but added it had probably never progressed beyond the "chattering stage".
Downing Street Downing Street is a street in Westminster in London that houses the official residences and offices of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Situated off Whitehall, it is long, and a few minutes' walk f ...
refused to confirm or deny the existence of a plot as it does not comment on matters concerning the prime minister's children. Founder O'Connor condemned the alleged plot and threatened to shut down the group because of it. Within days, Fathers 4 Justice had been disbanded. The group re-formed in May of the same year, and protested during the showing of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
lottery show '' The National Lottery: Jet Set''. The show was taken off-air for several minutes after six Fathers 4 Justice protesters ran from the audience onto the stage displaying posters. They were soon removed from the studio and the lottery draws were hurriedly finished in order to start coverage of the
2006 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadca ...
. A group spokesman stated afterwards that the incident marked a "dramatic return" of Fathers 4 Justice. In March 2006, F4J member and barrister Michael Cox was jailed for refusing to pay money he owed to the Child Support Agency. Cox told a hearing in Southampton he refused to pay on principle, as he had
joint custody Joint custody is a form of child custody pursuant to which custody rights are awarded to both parents. Joint custody may refer to ''joint physical custody'', ''joint legal custody'', or both combined. In joint legal custody, both parents of a ...
of his children, and his former wife wrote to the court in support of him. On 8 June 2008, two fathers from Fathers 4 Justice climbed onto the roof of Labour Party deputy leader
Harriet Harman Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabi ...
's house wearing superhero-style costumes and calling themselves "Captain Conception" and "Cash Gordon". One of the pair, Mark Harris, said he wanted fathers to have the same rights as their children's mothers' new partners. He also said they would not come down unless Harman read his book, ''Family Court Hell''. Harris later received a conditional discharge, while his colleague Jolly Stanesby was jailed for two months. In the same month, Bristol Family Court was evacuated after a
fire alarm A fire alarm system warns people when smoke, fire, carbon monoxide or other fire-related or general notification emergency, emergencies are detected. These alarms may be activated automatically from smoke detectors and heat detectors or may also ...
was set off in the building during a F4J protest outside the building. On 9 July 2008, Fathers 4 Justice members Nigel Ace and Tony Ashby, this time in Spider-Man and Batman outfits, climbed Harman's roof and draped a banner that read "Stop The War On Dads". Ace, in the Spider-Man costume, called for legal reforms through a loudhailer on the roof. In July 2011, F4J founder Matt O'Connor staged a
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
just outside
UK Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern pr ...
David Cameron's home in Oxfordshire, demanding that he honour what O'Connor said were pledges about grandparents' rights to see their grandchildren and over shared parenting. In 2012, F4J staged a naked protest inside the
Oxford Street Oxford Street is a major road in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, running from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch via Oxford Circus. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, with around half a million daily visitors, and ...
branch of retailer Marks and Spencer in order to protest the shop's advertising on parenting website
Mumsnet Mumsnet is a London-based internet forum, created in 2000 by Justine Roberts for discussion between parents of children and teenagers. History and finances Mumsnet was created in 2000 by Justine Roberts, who came up with the idea of a webs ...
, which F4J believes "promotes gender hatred". In June 2013, Paul Manning glued a picture of his 11-year-old son to John Constable's 1821 painting ''
The Hay Wain ''The Hay Wain'' – originally titled ''Landscape: Noon'' – is a painting by John Constable, completed in 1821, which depicts a rural scene on the River Stour between the English counties of Suffolk and Essex. It hangs in the National Galler ...
'' in the
National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
in London. Two weeks earlier, Tim Haries had spraypainted the word "Help" on a portrait of Queen Elizabeth at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
. The group's founder, Matt O'Connor, announced that he would target other art works in order to highlight his campaign. On 9 August 2013, Fathers 4 Justice protester Martyn Judd climbed onto the balcony of the Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel to protest what he asserted to be the inequality of fathers' treatment in family court cases during a CAFCASS conference at the hotel. The protest came to an end when sprinklers flooded the hotel. In January 2014, Fathers 4 Justice publicly withdrew support for Manning, following alleged breaches of their Terms & Conditions. On 8 January 2014, Tim Haries was found guilty of defacing the portrait of the Queen. On 5 February 2014, Haries was sentenced by Judge McCreath at Southwark Crown Court to six months in custody. On 30 November 2015, two men involved with the group were arrested after a few hours of standing on the roof of Queens Gallery, an art gallery on Buckingham Palace grounds. Three Fathers4Justice protesters stormed the stage of ITV's ''Loose Women'' shouting "No Kids No Cash", on 15 June 2016. The show was briefly taken off air. On 22 August 2016, Matt O’Connor, a 49-year-old campaigner for Fathers4Justice, walked on stage dressed as a priest during a live broadcast of the Rose of Tralee during Cavan Rose Lisa Reilly’s interview with host
Dáithí Ó Sé Dáithí Mícheál Ó Sé (; born 2 June 1976) is an Irish television presenter. He currently hosts RTÉ One's ''Today'', alongside Maura Derrane. He is also the current host of the Rose of Tralee and hosts a chat show on TG4 every Thursday nig ...
. He was removed from the stage by security staff before being taken away by Gardaí.


Early Day Motion 210

In June 2013, George Galloway sponsored the Shared Parenting Early Day Motion 210 in the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...
which mentioned Fathers4Justice: :That this House notes that many fathers convicted of no criminal offence have very limited access to their children as a result of decisions made by the family courts following separation or divorce; further notes that the family courts operate in conditions of secrecy in which there is a lack of public accountability for the decisions they make; believes that mothers, children and fathers all have rights in relation to family contact and access where there has been family breakdown; further believes there should not be a presumption that family breakdown is the primary responsibility of either parent; further believes that where there is palpably no threat to children from their father in the context of family breakdown, the courts should try to maximise reasonable access in the interests of the children; and calls on the Government to review the operation of the family courts in general and their decision-making in relation to fathers' access to children in the context of family breakdown in particular, taking into account the testimony of the many thousands of fathers who feel their rights are being ignored or abused in relation to their children and in particular the organisation Fathers4Justice and the 36,000 families it represents. The Early Day Motion attracted cross-party political support from MPs including
David Blunkett David Blunkett, Baron Blunkett, (born 6 June 1947) is a British Labour Party politician who has been a Member of the House of Lords since 2015, and previously served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough ...
, David Lammy, Gerald Kaufman, Frank Field,
John Redwood Sir John Alan Redwood (born 15 June 1951) is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wokingham in Berkshire since 1987. A member of the Conservative Party, he was Secretary of State for Wales in the Major governm ...
, John Hemming and Caroline Lucas. However, none of the signatories of the EDM, including George Galloway who sponsored it, actually spoke in the final debate on the Children & Families Bill on 10 February 2014, or objected to Lords' amendment 12, which "watered down" the Bill's legislative powers on shared parenting. Nevertheless, non-signatories to the EDM, including MPs who were criticised by Fathers4Justice such as Caroline Nokes, did speak in favour of shared parenting, and criticised the amendment, saying, "I was elected on a promise to seek a legal presumption in favour of automatic shared contact, something that the Bill achieved before the amendment was added, but clause 11, as amended, will not deliver what we promised." Nokes also said: "The amendment plays into the hands of obstructive resident parents who wish to prevent a child from having a meaningful, ongoing relationship with an absent parent, and puts us back into a situation of winners and losers".


Criticism

Members of the group have been accused of conducting intimidating attacks in order to upset court staff, family lawyers and Members of Parliament. During protests outside the offices of the
Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is a non-departmental public body in England set up to promote the welfare of children and families involved in family court. It was formed in April 2001 under the provisions ...
(CAFCASS), individual case workers were identified by name. One office of CAFCASS was forcibly entered by F4J members, who detained an unnamed employee. No criminal proceedings are known to have resulted.


Impact

Fathers 4 Justice's main focus remains upon media coverage and legal treatment of fathers' rights issues in the UK. The use of high-profile and disruptive stunts has garnered significant UK media coverage, but the political aims of the group are as yet unachieved. The group has been accused of missing the opportunity to change legislation when it refused to table amendments to the Children and Families Bill in 2013. One of its central aims, the removal of secrecy surrounding family courts, is the subject of political debate. In 2006, the Court of Appeal set a precedent allowing adults to discuss secret cases after they had concluded. This resulted in a number of high-profile scandals, chiefly concerning adoption. In February 2009, Justice Minister
Jack Straw John Whitaker Straw (born 3 August 1946) is a British politician who served in the Cabinet from 1997 to 2010 under the Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He held two of the traditional Great Offices of State, as Home Secretary ...
announced plans to reverse the ruling. In a landmark ruling in September 2013, Sir
James Munby Sir James Lawrence Munby (born 27 July 1948) is a retired English judge who was President of the Family Division of the High Court of England and Wales. He was replaced by Sir Andrew McFarlane on reaching the mandatory retirement age. Early l ...
,
President of the Family Division The President of the Family Division is the head of the Family Division of the High Court of Justice in England and Wales and Head of Family Justice. The Family Division was created in 1971 when Admiralty and contentious probate cases were remove ...
of the
High Court of Justice The High Court of Justice in London, known properly as His Majesty's High Court of Justice in England, together with the Court of Appeal and the Crown Court, are the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Its name is abbreviated as EWHC (Englan ...
in England and Wales, spoke in support of previously 'secret' courts being exposed to public scrutiny, with an order that permitted a family whose children had been removed to speak publicly about their treatment by child safety officials. An unintended result of the F4J campaign has been the exposure of flaws in
security" \n\n\nsecurity.txt is a proposed standard for websites' security information that is meant to allow security researchers to easily report security vulnerabilities. The standard prescribes a text file called \"security.txt\" in the well known locat ...
at Buckingham Palace, resulting in security enquiries or reviews there and at the House of Commons.


See also

*
Child custody Child custody is a legal term regarding '' guardianship'' which is used to describe the legal and practical relationship between a parent or guardian and a child in that person's care. Child custody consists of ''legal custody'', which is the righ ...
*
Fathers' rights movement in the UK The fathers' rights movement in the United Kingdom consists of a large number of diverse pressure groups, ranging from charities (regulated by the Charity Commission) and self-help groups to civil disobedience activists in the United Kingdom, ...
*
Parental alienation Parental alienation is a theorized process through which a child becomes estranged from one parent as the result of the psychological manipulation of another parent. The child's estrangement may manifest itself as fear, disrespect or hostility tow ...
*
Parental alienation syndrome Parental alienation syndrome (PAS) is a term introduced by child psychiatrist Richard Gardner in 1985 to describe signs and symptoms he believed to be exhibited by children who have been alienated from one parent through manipulation by the othe ...
*
Pressure groups in the United Kingdom :'' N.B.: Trade unions may be invariably described as pressure groups; these organisations should be mentioned at the list of trade unions in the United Kingdom article, not here.'' There are many pressure groups around the world. This is a list o ...
* Shared parenting


References

{{Reflist, 30em


External links


Fathers 4 Justice – official website

Lottery show delayed by protest

Fathers' rights group scale abbey
13 April 2006
Bob Geldof supports Fathers for Justice calling them heroic after critics attack their leadership
27 May 2005
BBC iCan: Fathers' rights
12 July 2004 2002 establishments in the United Kingdom Family and parenting issues groups in the United Kingdom Fathers' rights Fathers' rights organizations Gender equality Organizations established in 2002 Political advocacy groups in the United Kingdom