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SStanding before the judge with her entire world on the line, Sara* remembers being “stumbling” over her words, desperately trying to understand what was happening in front of her.
Across the room, her ex-husband Al*’s experienced barrister spoke to the judge in words she could not understand. The couple had been feuding for two years over custody of their young daughter, Elsie* – with her fearing that his heavy drug use would put the four-year-old in danger.
But despite her best efforts to keep Elsie safe, Sarah knows she will be left unable to protect her. a broken legal aid The system forced him to represent himself family Court“Too poor” to advocate properly for him. Child,
Sarah met Al at work 15 years earlier and when Elsie came along, the two were happily married. But as Al’s health deteriorated, he began to rely heavily on marijuana, according to Sarah, he would often “smoke a joint every hour”. When he didn’t smoke, he became angry and rude, a “different person – like Jekyll and Hyde,” she said.
He stopped Sarah from allowing anyone else in the house, isolated her from family and friends and ran up debts of almost £11,000, most of which was in her name.
Eventually, she left the relationship and managed to live with Elsie in a housing association property. She says she never stopped her ex-husband from spending time with their daughter, but banned overnight stays “until he proved he could keep her safe”.
“I learned from smoking marijuana how hard it was to wake him up at times,” she explained. “How could I leave a four-year-old with that overnight? It seemed irresponsible.”
But Al insisted on equality access Elsie would often refuse to go out of Sarah’s house after she dropped her off or would put her foot in the door to keep it open. She says he “verbally abused” her in front of their child on more than one occasion.
Sara recorded several instances and took the videos to the police, fearing for her safety. But she says she was advised not to pursue charges because a conviction was unlikely, with police not even asking to see the footage.
Al later takes Sarah to court, applying for a child arrangements order, a legally binding family court order setting out how a child will live, spend time and have contact with both parents.
“It was just surreal, really,” he said. “I felt betrayed. I couldn’t believe it had come to this.”
She had no financial means to afford a lawyer to represent her and began looking into whether she would be eligible for legal aid, a service that can be offered in cases where someone is considered to be protecting themselves or their child from abuse or harassment, for example, domestic abuse or forced marriage.
She reached out to dozens of lawyers in her area, but struggled to find one who could provide legal assistance.
Eventually, she found one – but was told months later that she had no evidence of Al’s abuse, and therefore would not qualify.
I replied, “So, what should I do? Represent myself?” Sara said. “And she said, ‘Yes, you need to represent yourself.’
“It blew my mind,” she added. “I can’t believe that criminals automatically get help, while someone who tried to fight for his daughter gets nothing.”
With the court date fast approaching and no money to pay for counsel, Sarah is forced to appear in court herself. Across the aisle, Al had hired a top barrister.
He said, “It made me feel very small – it was one of the worst times of my life.” “It was a little old fashioned for me to be someone who does this every day for a living.
“How can you call this fair?”
The experience left her dejected, and ultimately, Sarah says she agreed to things she “wasn’t prepared for” – including giving Al overnight access to Elsie.
She’s not the only one who has struggled to get help. In 2013, the government introduced the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO), which removed large areas of law from the legal aid budget.
Government data highlights how, since the introduction of LASPO, the number of family cases in which neither party has a legal representative has tripled from 13 per cent to 39 per cent.
Richard Miller, head of justice at the Law Society, said Independent The “poorest members of society” have been left out and forced to represent themselves in court due to a sharp decline in legal aid providers.
“Legal aid is a vital public service and it is under immense pressure at the moment,” he said. “Over the last few years we have seen the number of companies operating in this sector and the number of lawyers working in this sector falling year on year to such an extent that there is no longer sufficient coverage across the country to meet the needs of the public.”
She said the aim of legal aid is to “level the playing field” as there is often a “power imbalance” in family breakdown cases like Sarah’s. But his research shows that many people living below the poverty line are left without help.
Mr Miller said that to save legal aid, the Government must commit to raising rates for lawyers providing the service. He said, “Research shows that the majority of companies that provide civil legal aid incur significant losses by doing so.”
As a result, he said Law Society figures show that at least one in three people are living in a “legal aid desert” without a provider, leaving them unable to access the advice they are entitled to.
Isabella Lowenthal-Isaacs, policy manager at Women’s Aid, said it is “clear” that we are “a long way from ensuring that the courts are safe for women and children who suffer domestic abuse”.
She added, “We know from our work with survivors that women are often disbelieved, their experiences of domestic abuse dismissed and children’s voices routinely silenced.”
She said the requirement to “prove” abuse left survivors without representation and increased the risk of harm.
“A system that has long benefited perpetrators of domestic abuse must change,” she said. “Women’s experiences must be heard, and legal support must be provided to ensure that decisions are fair and impartial.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: “This is a distressing case, and our thoughts are with the victim.
“Legal aid is available to victims of domestic abuse in family court cases, but applicants must meet eligibility criteria, including evidence such as a police caution or court order. We know this can be difficult for people struggling with trauma, but these requirements help to ensure that support is provided fairly and consistently.”
,Names have been changed to protect the anonymity of the source.