Andréa Hounto successfully defends Father alleged of coercive and controlling behaviour in Fact-Finding Hearing.

5 Sep 2023

Andréa Hounto, instructed by Quality Solicitors Harris Waters, represented the Applicant Father in a three-day fact-finding before Lay Magistrates at West London Family Court.

The Father was accused of a pattern of coercive and controlling behaviour, including six separate allegations of physical and emotional abuse of both the vulnerable Mother and the child. Due to the serious nature of the allegations, no interim contact was allowed by the Court.

Andréa sensitively cross-examined the vulnerable Mother and gave a closing speech highlighting the inconsistencies in the Mother’s evidence compared to the Father’s evidence. The Bench subsequently gave written reasons in which the six allegations (relating to both the mother and child) were dismissed, and the Father was not found to have been coercive or controlling on the balance of probabilities.

The Father was  elated and thanked Andréa for “changing his life.” He had not seen his son in over a year and felt vindicated after months of accusations and feeling voiceless. Instructing solicitors were pleased with this “impressive result”.

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