Notable Cases
2026
Acted pro bono through Proudmans for journalist Jessica Bradley, securing an order granting
restricted access to, and permission to report on, expert psychological reports in four concluded
private family law cases. The judgment balanced open justice with children’s welfare, with the court recognising the public interest engaged by allegations of parental alienation and domestic abuse. Read
more at Right to Equality and the Transparency Project.
2025
MS v HW & Anor [2025] EWFC 267, MS v HW & Anor (Costs) [2025] EWFC 268 and Louise Tickle v Father & Ors [2023] EWHC 2446 (Fam)
Acted for the mother in a successful appeal brought by journalist Louise Tickle concerning reportingrestrictions in private law proceedings; the court found the judge had erred in law in adjourning thejournalist’s reporting application. At a later hearing, the court re-opened previously agreed findings offact, accepted the majority of the mother’s allegations, rejected the father’s case of parental alienation,and found that the child’s resistance to contact stemmed from her own lived experiences. Final ordersincluded no direct contact, restrictions on parental responsibility, a section 91(14) order and protectivemeasures. The father was also ordered to pay part of the mother’s costs. Read more at theTransparency Project, the Law Gazette, Tortoise Media and the Guardian.
Represented the mother in proceedings concerning her seven-year-old daughter. The court found the
father’s application was primarily driven by his motivation to secure immigration status for himself
rather than a genuine wish to see the child. Contact was limited to indirect exchanges, with a
Prohibited Steps Order and a five-year section 91(14) order also made.
Appeared for the mother in a High Court appeal arising from findings of controlling behaviour. The appeal challenged the trial judge’s characterisation of that conduct and the wording of the order. The appeal was allowed. The High Court acknowledged that the language used below may have downplayed the seriousness of the father’s behaviour.
Acted for the mother in proceedings concerning a journalist’s right to protect her source in family
proceedings. The father’s application for the journalist to disclose her source, supported by Cafcass,
was later withdrawn. The judgment nonetheless gave important guidance on the exceptional
circumstances in which the court may order disclosure of a journalist’s source. Read more at the
Transparency Project and Financial Remedies Journal.
Represented the mother in an appeal concerning overnight contact between her daughter and the
father. The father was found to have raped and abused the mother when she was aged 15 and he was
aged 24. The High Court determined that overnight contact was unsafe. Read more in the Guardian,
the Law Gazette 23/4/25, the Metro and the Law Gazette 11/4/25.
Appeared for the mother at fact-finding, securing findings of sexual abuse and rejection of the father’s
cross-allegations that she had controlled him by withholding sex. Acted at final hearing seeking
protective orders for the mother and child. On appeal, secured a two-year extension of the non-
molestation order and a costs contribution, while the refusal to change the child’s surname to the
mother’s name was upheld. The mother has since applied to the European Court of Human Rights
following the refusal to change the child’s surname. Read more in the Times, the Metro, the Sun, the
Good Law Project, the Daily Mail.
M v F & Anor [2025] EWHC 801 (Fam),DG v KB &
Anor (Re EMP (A Child)) [2024] EWFC 12(B), DG v KB [2023] EWFC 180; and CM v IP [2022] EWHC 2755 (Fam)
Successfully appealed a failure to order a fact-finding on the mother’s abuse allegations and to
implement participation measures. At fact-finding, secured findings of rape and abuse, despite the
father’s allegations of parental alienation. This was one of the first private law cases to be brought
under a reporting pilot designed to improve transparency in the family courts. Read more in the
Guardian and TBIJ. At final hearing, obtained termination of the father’s parental responsibility, a
name change, a section 91(14) order, and £30,000 costs. Read more in TBIJ. The mother applied to
speak publicly about her experiences of family court under a pseudonym. The court recognised that
preventing her from doing so could itself amount to coercive control. Read more in the Law Society Gazette,
TBIJ, the Times.
Acted for Kate Kniveton (then an MP) at fact-finding, securing findings of multiple rapes, coercive
control and abuse against her ex-husband, a former MP and Minister, forming the basis of subsequent
reported decisions. Acted across appeals and applications, including opposing recusal, upholding
publication in the Court of Appeal, and securing named publication to advance transparency. At final
hearing, secured no direct contact, a three-year section 91(14) order, restrictions on parental
responsibility and a change of surname.
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Kate’s high-profile case was subsequently featured in the ITV documentary, Breaking the Silence:
Kate’s Story. Dr Proudman appears in the documentary, highlighting the pervasive nature of abuse
across all backgrounds, with Kate Kniveton speaking publicly to challenge misconceptions and raise
awareness of coercive control and violence against women.
Read more in TBIJ, Sky News, C4 News, the Guardian, the Daily Mail, the Mirror, Tortoise Media,
the Times, the BBC.
2024
Represented the mother in an international contact dispute following her removal of the child from the United States. The court accepted that separation from the mother would cause profound emotional damage and postponed U.S. contact until at least 2028, with substantial safeguards. Read more at the Transparency Project.
Re A (A Boy) [2024] EWFC 420 (B);Father v Mother [2024] EWFC 419 (B);and Re A (A Boy)[2023] EWFC 259
Successfully represented the mother at an appeal overturning findings that she had fabricated rape
allegations. Appeared for the mother at a Ground Rules Hearing ahead of a retrial addressing matters
of evidence and procedure. At a re-hearing, the court found the father had raped, abused and
coercively controlled her, causing harm to both mother and child.
Appeared for the mother in a High Court appeal arising from findings of controlling behaviour. The appeal challenged the trial judge’s characterisation of that conduct and the wording of the order. The appeal was allowed. The High Court acknowledged that the language used below may have downplayed the seriousness of the father’s behaviour.
Father v Mother & Anor [2024] EWHC 3332 (Fam)
Appeared for the mother on an application for permission to appeal. The court confirmed that earlier agreements or findings in children cases are not binding in a way that prevents reconsideration, and the judge below had acted within his discretion in allowing historical allegations to be explored.
Hannah Summers & Anor v Kristoffer Paul Arthur White &Ors [2024] EWFC 182 and W v J [2024]EWFC 351 (B)
Represented the mother in a successful appeal against a child arrangements order made despite
findings of rape and coercive control against the father, with the court identifying serious procedural
failings including an inadequate PD12J risk assessment. Following the appeal, the mother supported
two journalist’s applications securing publication of the father’s identity as a convicted serial rapist,
overcoming opposition from both the father and Cafcass. Read in the Guardian 14/09/2024, TBIJ
31/08/2024, the Guardian 17/07/2024 and TBIJ 16/07/2024.
Appeared for the mother in a successful appeal against the instruction of a male psychologist, arguing
she could not properly engage as a victim of male violence and had been denied participation
measures; appeal was allowed. Previously secured the recusal of Sir Jonathan Cohen, partly due to his
membership of the all-male Garrick Club, giving rise to a perception of gender-based bias. Read more
in London Evening Standard, Independent, the Guardian and the Daily Mail.
Re GB (Parental Alienation: Welfare) [2024] EWFC 168 (B), Re GB (Parental Alienation: Factual
Findings) [2024] EWFC 75 (B) and GB (Part 25 Application: Parental Alienation) [2023] EWFC 150
Successfully represented a mother in an appeal against the instruction of a psychologist focused on parental alienation; the expert instruction was set aside. Read more in the Guardian. At a fact-finding hearing, the court found the father had used claims of parental alienation, as DARVO (deny, attack and reverse the role of victim and offender), and the court ordered that the father pay £50,445.40towards the mother’s costs. This was the first judgment defining DARVO. Read more in TBIJ and the Guardian. Final orders included no direct contact, a section 91(14) order, restrictions on parental responsibility, and permission for the children to change their surnames.
Successfully appealed the appointment of a psychologist in a case involving findings of domestic
abuse, where the proposed expert’s primary focus was parental alienation. The instruction was set
aside.
Appeared for the mother in a successful appeal against the father having unsupervised child contact.
The appeal raised failures to consider the need for participation directions, a fact-finding hearing and
the proper application of PD12J. The order was set aside. Read more in Barrister Magazine.
Represented the mother in care proceedings connected to a suspected illegal abortion police
investigation. The mother supported the media’s application to report the proceedings so that she
could tell her story. The case engaged important issues of transparency in the family court. Read more
at Tortoise Media and listen to the podcast.
Acted for the mother in Hague Convention proceedings brought by the father for the child’s return to
Italy. The mother successfully established an Article 13(b) defence. The court accepted that she was a
victim of domestic abuse, including coercive and controlling behaviour, and dismissed the father’s
application for summary return of the child. Read more at Hague Mothers.
2023
Represented the mother in a fact-finding hearing in the High Court. The father abandoned his
allegations of parental alienation during cross-examination. The judgment also contains detailed
findings on the parties’ conduct and behaviour.
Appeared for the wife in an appeal against refusal to set aside a financial remedies order based on lack
of capacity and the absence of participation directions. The judgment reviews the distinction between
setting aside and appealing, and the effect of mental illness on capacity. Read more in Financial
Remedies Journal.
Represented the mother in a High Court appeal involving allegations of sexual coercion and
submission within marriage. The case raised broader issues about how family courts assess sexual
abuse in a religious marriage. Although the appeal was dismissed, the appellate court criticised
aspects of the trial judge’s language.
Re Z (Disclosure to Social Work England: Costs) [2023] EWHC 982 (Fam),Re Z (Disclosure to
Social Work England: Findings of Domestic Abuse) [2023] EWHC 447 (Fam) and A (Domestic
abuse: incorrect principles applied) [2021] EWFC B30
​Successfully appealed a flawed fact-finding decision, with the case remitted for retrial where findings
of domestic abuse were secured. Also acted in a successful appeal permitting disclosure of those
findings to Social Work England, as the father was a social worker. The judgment provided guidance
on disclosure to regulators. Subsequently secured a costs order against the regulator, whose conduct
was found to be unreasonable. Read more in the Guardian, Local Government Lawyer, the Justice
Gap and the Independent.
A v B & Anor [2023] EWCA Civ 360 (07 March 2023), A & Anor v B & Ors [2022] EWHC 3089 (Fam) and B v A [2022] EWFC 177 (Fam)
​Acted for the mother in B v A at fact-finding involving allegations of rape and non-fatal strangulation,
and pursued an appeal following concerning judicial comments about the mother’s ‘intelligence.’
Read more in the Daily Mail, the Independent and London Evening Standard. Also represented two
respondent mothers in linked High Court appeals on the definition of rape and consent, where one
appeal succeeded. In the related Court of Appeal case, the appeal was dismissed but the judgment
remains an important authority on rape, consent and sexual history evidence.
Represented the mother in a successful appeal setting aside a child arrangements order made by
consent. Findings of rape and domestic abuse had already been made, yet there were no participation
directions at the later hearing and she was encouraged to negotiate directly with the proven
perpetrator. The order was set aside.
Instructed by Rights of Women on behalf of Latin American Women’s Aid, Women’s Aid and
Refuge in a guidance case before the President on the safe service of documents for women in
refuges. The judgment provided early guidance on protecting addresses and included one of the first
definitions of intersectionality in this context. Read in the Law Society Gazette.
​Successfully appealed a fact-finding decision where abuse allegations were not proved, due to failures
to comply with duties to protect vulnerable parties and implement participation measures. The
judgment provides clear guidance in this area.