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New Fathers 4 Justice protest in Southampton for Chandler's Ford dad Lee Moorman

More stories about: Chandler's Ford


BATMAN, Superman, Captain America, and Spiderman joined forces for a protest in Southampton.

The “superheroes” from New Fathers 4 Justice hijacked the city’s old town walls near the Bargate in support of Chandler’s Ford dad Lee Moorman, 30, who is fighting for access to his child.

Motorists passing below honked their support while around half a dozen police gathered close by.

The protesters unfurled banners from the bridge over Castle Way and demanded equal rights for fathers over a megaphone.

Mr Moorman said he was having “sleepless nights” after last seeing his three-year old son in July. He said he wanted joint custody not a couple of hours access in a contact centre.

“I’ve got to go to the family courts which I’m told will be a lengthy process and cost a lot of money.”

Mr Moorman said he was planning a monthly support group in Southampton. He was joined by protester Mark Harris, 50, who said he needed 133 court hearings to win the right to see his children.

The former Shirley resident set fire to a wheelbarrow of the court papers he accumulated over his ten-year battle as a show of disgust for the “biased” family courts.

Mr Harris was one of the protesters who last year scaled the roof of deputy Labour leader Harriet Harman’s home while she and her husband were inside.



Your Say YourEcho

Bartonian, Chandler's Ford says...
5:14pm Mon 12 Oct 09

I feel sorry for these men. not only are they screwed financially by the system, they are being barred from their children by the system. Women in the goverment, i.e a certain Harriet Harman and Co. I feel are to blame, for their anti-men stance on society.

freemantlegirl2, Southampton says...
5:48pm Mon 12 Oct 09

Children under a certain are very seldom subject to shared care (50/50 access) because it is found that they find it very confusing spending half the week somewhere and then half somewhere else. Young children need stability and continuity, and that includes seeing dad regularly of course but not to the point of having them totally confused and there are things like child care/nursery/school to consider if the parents don't live very near to each other. This case doesn't seem to be that he isn't getting access? it says that he wants 50/50. Is he not seeing his son because he refuses to see him in a contact centre? what's the whole story here? As I said, very few children under a certain age are subject to shared care. The system doesn't take into account fathers enough I agree but The Children Act is always primary to everything, i.e. the child's welfare comes first. Unfortunately, with these cases once they go to court there is always one partner who isn't satisfied/unhappy with access arrangements. That's the sad resolution to the break up of a family. The parent with care may have to ensure that the welfare of their child is paramount, there have been tragic cases in the press where the absent father has killed himself and the children to 'get back' at the ex-wife, or rather than have them live with her. I'm not saying the father in question would ever do something like that, but it is hard to know when we only hear one side of the story. I know who I feel sorry for in these cases, and it's not the parents, it's the children!

Nod, Southampton says...
5:49pm Mon 12 Oct 09

they could've at least dressed up as British Heroes.

Union Jack, Captain Britain, Spitfire, Jack Staff

c'mon guys, show some initiative


Mike Murphy, Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada says...
6:10pm Mon 12 Oct 09

@freemantlegirl2, Southampton says...
5:48pm Mon 12 Oct 09 You should view the video. He hasn't seen his child since early summer. The long term goal os a presumption of equality that being 50-50. Your assertion that under a certain age 50-50 isn't good is not born out by research. During a marriage both parents are 50-50. Why should that change afterward.

The canard that dad doesn't participate as much in the marriage is not born out by research ether. Most modern fathers spend as much time doing home based work as do moms. In some countries in Europe they do more. In the USA there is an average across that country of 20 minutes different in favour of mom.

I was a stay-at-home dad for 10 years and available 24/7 to my girls and will stack my capabilities against any mom in the world. There is no credible research to show children need to be with mom constantly at any age. Early attachment theory has been proven wrong. Children attach to both mom and dad. To lose one is to lose half their genetic identity. In most western democracies it is the single mom most likely to abuse or kill the child not the dad.

The ones that get the most press, however, are the family murder/suicides. Why do you think they happen. Could it be a vindictive mother withholding access and taking dad to the financial cleaners? That is a last desperate act by someone who believes they have no where to turn. Bringing fairness and equity to family courts may perhaps reduce these acts of desperation.

It will certainly reduce conflict and have a positive impact on children. That is clearly shown in all modern research.

Condor Man, Southampton says...
9:55pm Mon 12 Oct 09

It's ironic when this government has passed more laws than any other in history men feel they need to take direct action in order to see their kids.

batman m25, farnborough says...
11:41pm Mon 12 Oct 09

hi great on you guys for the surport you are given to the fathers and children out there who need the surport from us all don't let the family courts get away with it. stand up for our children they need us father
great one guys keep it up
geoff batman m25

newfathers4justice ( sussex ), sussex says...
7:43am Tue 13 Oct 09

well done on this everyone
keep up the fight !

we will keep up our protests until the law changes, just a shame more dont act !

for more info visit:
http://www.newfather
s4justice.info/

watch our southampton video:
http://www.youtube.c
om/watch?v=ExiGRl5x5
6w

IWantMySonBack, Stourbridge says...
6:03pm Tue 13 Oct 09

It is not just the fathers who are suffering at the hands of the wrong decision in a Family Court. I have a list of hundreds of mothers who are suffering having been cut off from their child/children for no good reason: including myself re my son Alex Heywood. I would challenge the idea that the court favours the mother as I have not found this to be the case. Until we have the stats we cannot make such a sweeping statement. The fact is the Lawyers and their hangers on do not want the child to have equal parenting as they wouldn't have a case would they? acrimony is created or invented by Social Workers or false claims of MSBP: The child is then removed and placed in temporary care or with the other parent: usually the one the child doesn't want to reside with! The child is then cut off gradually from the parent he/she has been removed from and then sometimes ls removed later on and placed in care. So the Govt policy currently is: the child is made to leave a stable home, placed in an unstable home then care and this is all 'In The Best Interest Of The Child'!! It also costs the British taxpayer copius amounts of money amounting to hundreds of thousands which could be better used elsewhere. The whole system needs a complete overhaul and fast!

Comments are closed on this article.

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