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 reporting
restrictions in private law proceedings; the court found the judge had erred in law in adjourning the
journalist’s reporting application. At a later hearing, the court re-opened previously agreed findings of
fact, 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 orders
included no direct contact, restrictions on parental responsibility, a section 91(14) order and protective
measures. The father was also ordered to pay part of the mother’s costs. Read more at the
Transparency 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was later withdrawn.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 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 £50,445.40
towards 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.
2022
Re P (Inherent Jurisdiction Return: Return Order: Welfare Analysis) [2023] EWHC 225 (Fam) and Re
P (Inherent Jurisdiction Return: Allegations of Female Genital Mutilation and Domestic Abuse: Fact
Finding) Neutral Citation Number [2022] EWHC 1722 (Fam)
Acted for a mother alleging risk of FGM on return to Nigeria, alongside allegations of abuse. The
High Court found controlling behaviour. At final hearing, the child was ordered to return to Nigeria
subject to conditions. The mother and the child had applied for asylum in the UK.
Successfully represented the mother on an application to stay a child contact order with the father
pending determination of her appeal. The underlying appeal concerned a fact-finding decision in
which none of her allegations had been proved. Stay ordered.
Appeared for the father opposing the summary return of a child to Ukraine under Article 13(b),
arguing the country was a war zone. The court ordered return, focusing on the child’s destination in
far west Ukraine. The case is one of the few Hague return cases to consider summary return to a
country at war.
Represented a victim of child marriage, FGM and domestic abuse in public law proceedings involving
an extreme religious sect abroad. Serious findings of abuse were made. The case was unusual in that a
special advocate was appointed to assist the court with sensitive disclosure issues. Read more in the
Independent and Belfast Telegraph.
Appeared for the mother in an appeal brought by the Metropolitan Police. The Court of Appeal held
that an injunction under the inherent jurisdiction had unlawfully interfered with a police investigation,
clarifying the limits of family court intervention. Read more in the Guardian.
M (A Child: Private Law Children Proceedings: Case Management: Intimate Images) [2022] EWHC
986 (Fam) and M (A Child) [2021] EWHC 3225 (Fam)
Represented the mother in a successful High Court appeal concerning failures to implement
participation directions and properly consider ‘sexual history’ evidence in a rape and abuse case. The
High Court gave first-time guidance on the admissibility of sexual images and videos and directed
that the mother be referred to as a ‘prostituted woman’ not ‘sex worker’ to reflect coercion.
Appeared for the wife at a final hearing in financial remedy proceedings, challenging a post-nuptial
agreement on the basis of alleged coercive control by her husband, a part-time judge and barrister; the
allegations were not upheld. Read more in Financial Remedies Journal, the Times and the Daily Mail.
Successfully represented the mother in an appeal against a fact-finding judgment. The appellate court
held that the trial judge had minimised domestic abuse and failed to apply the law correctly.
Permission to appeal was granted and the appeal succeeded. Read more in the Independent.
2021
Appeared for two of the four appellant mothers in this Court of Appeal guidance case on rape,
domestic abuse and coercive control. Read more in the Guardian 19/01/2021, the Guardian
31/03/2021 and the Justice Gap. Also acted for a mother in B-B on rehearing, securing findings of
rape, sexual and verbal abuse, with the judgment recognising gaslighting as a form of abuse. Read
more in the Independent.
Represented Florence, aged 15, securing an order to live primarily with her mother after an earlier
transfer of residence to her father based on parental alienation, which she described as traumatising.
Believed to be one of the first cases where a child successfully applied to return to her mother
following such a transfer. Listen to Florence on the Tortoise Media podcast.
Successfully represented the mother in opposing the father’s attempt to begin private law children
proceedings in England and Wales.
Appeared for the mother in a successful appeal overturning a fact-finding decision in which no
findings had been made on rape and abuse. The appellate court criticised the minimisation of abusive
conduct and emphasised the duty to ensure participation measures are in force for vulnerable parties.
Read more in the Independent.
Acted for the mother in child return proceedings from India, where the court refused to invoke parens
patriae and clarified its limits, now a leading authority. Also appeared before the CJEU, which
confirmed that Article 10 of Brussels IIa does not apply to third states such as India.
Instructed by the Centre for Women’s Justice on behalf of interveners, with evidence from women’s
organisations informing the court’s approach to exploitation and harm. The court held that care
workers could commit a criminal offence by arranging for a vulnerable adult to engage a prostituted
woman. Read more in Court of Protection Hub.
Represented the mother in care and placement proceedings involving serious allegations of domestic
abuse, neglect and non-accidental injury. The court made care and placement orders in respect of
three children.
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2017-2020
Represented family members applying to revoke care, placement and adoption orders. The case
concerned whether relatives had been adequately assessed before final orders were made. It engaged
the high threshold for setting aside adoption-related orders.
C (A Child: Parental Order & Child Arrangements Order) [2020] EWHC 2474 (Fam) and C (A Child:
Parental Order & Child Arrangements Order) [2020] EWHC 2141 (Fam)
Appeared for the local authority in unusual surrogacy proceedings. A child had been born through a
surrogacy arrangement and the wife had then arranged a further surrogacy without the husband’s
knowledge or consent.
Represented the mother in an application for an FGM Protection Order involving risk in Nigeria,
highlighting the intersection of family protection and insecure immigration status.
Re A (A child) (Female Genital Mutilation Protection Order Application) (Rev 1) [2020] EWHC 323,
Re A (A Child) (Rev 1) [2020] EWCA Civ 731 and Re A (A Child: Female Genital Mutilation:
Asylum) [2019] EWHC 2475
The court held that the family court could not prevent removal by the Home Secretary but must still
assess FGM risk, providing guidance on the overlap with asylum law. At final hearing, it found a
significant risk of FGM if the child were returned to Bahrain or Sudan and extended the FGMPO.
Read more in the Guardian 10/07/2020 and the Guardian 03/07/2020.
Represented the mother in proceedings on a child’s travel to Egypt amid alleged FGM risk; the court
permitted a short trip and gave guidance on relevant factors. Read more in Local Government
Lawyer.
Successfully appealed a child arrangements order where contact provisions had been wrongly placed
in recitals rather than the operative order.
Appeared for parents of a child at risk of FGM abroad; the court held that FGM Protection Order
applications should generally follow exhaustion of immigration appeals, giving key case management
guidance. Read more in Counsel.
Represented private foster carers in public law fact-finding proceedings, securing findings of
abandonment and breaches of private fostering duties by the local authority, with guidance on its
responsibilities.
Acted for the appellant in a nullity appeal based on polygamy, addressing overseas marriage validity,
proof of marriage and expert evidence; a notable decision in international family law.
​Appeared in a Privy Council appeal concerning personal injury allegedly caused by hydrocarbon
fumes from an oil well; the appeal succeeded and the Court of Appeal’s decision was set aside.