The first visit with the court welfare officer Valerie Nuttall was a farcical affair.  Greg and Sarah were brought before Val in a bid to iron out their differences but since the parties were poles apart the meeting descended into out and out chaos.  Slippery Greg unleashed his usual line of lies and slurs and battle-weary Sarah struggled to get the truth out and to be heard above forceful Greg.

            He began by saying that he’d been forced to leave his fiancee because she was a suicidal, possessive, obsessive nutter.  He claimed he’d brought the babies up thus far and that Sarah was incapable of caring for kids as she was often drunk, maniacal and destructive and that she regularly struck out at her kids in a blazing temper.  He alleged that at other times she just abandoned them all for hours on end.  He blab-mouthed David and Anna too, saying they were out of control and known as the neighbourhood nuisances.  He said that they were regularly seen: hanging around street corners at all hours of the day or night guzzling cider and puffing on discarded cigarette butt ends.  He said that they’d been seen: smashing bottles and dumping rubbish in the street, climbing on shop rooftops, swinging on scaffolding, slashing car tyres, pick-pocketing, stealing from shops and people’s gardens and letting out farm animals from their pens and stables.

            He proudly informed Val that he’d made a couple of referrals to social services because he was so fearful for the safety of all of Sarah’s kids.  He also stressed that he was aware that other local people had voiced their concerns to the Authorities.  The welfare officer enquired as to why he hadn’t alerted the agency during more amicable times since Sarah posed such a risk to her kids when they were together.  He smugly declared that he had.  Sarah jumped on that immediately and robustly announced that Greg had just admitted being behind the anonymous call to social services on new years eve a year ago, which he’d denied at the time.  She felt pleased that this would reveal dark devious Greg in his true colours and smash his integrity.  But Val did not appear to be alarmed or even that interested, in fact half the time she didn’t appear to be paying much attention at all.  Valerie Nuttall’s only aim, it seemed, was to stress to both parties that attacks and counter attacks were not helpful and that they both have to find a way of getting along together for the well being of all the kids. 

            Well that was pretty obvious but when Sarah asked how that could be achieved when her ex partner was hardly behaving reasonably, responsibly or lawfully Valerie could not give an answer.  Instead, she urged them both to refrain from insulting each other and rubbishing each’s respective views and opinions and never to do so in front of the children.

            Sarah was appalled at the welfare officer’s stance and asserted that children should know the truth about members of their family, especially where there is evidence of abuse and cover up.  She insisted that to deny a child the facts and thus the support needed by that child is to further abuse him or her.  She pointed out that kids are not fools and do not bury their heads in the sand but that they are intelligent, aware and entitled to be included and consulted openly in matters that concern them.

            She then emphasized that it was her duty to protect her children and that Jason and Jessica would be in grave danger with Greg because he is dependent on alcohol and regularly falls asleep in a drunken stupor which would leave her babies exposed and vulnerable to any household dangers; not to mention the violent moods he has whilst intoxicated which would further put them at risk.

            She stated that her claims could be verified because Greg had admitted to being an alcoholic and that he’d asked Alcoholics Anonymous for help but that after only a handful of meetings in three different venues, he had dropped out and was back on the booze.  But yet again, Val’s response flummoxed and enraged her.  Sarah was politely but firmly informed that membership of AA could not be used against someone in matters pertaining to residence and contact issues in a court of law because that person has the right to anonymity.

            “What about the rights of the child?  Where is the common sense and responsibility in placing a child, a baby, in the care of a known alcoholic?  I thought the court was supposed to uphold the care and protection of children!  The law is an ass.  How can it put the interests, well-being and rights of an adult before those of a child? 

            You know, the more I’m learning about the court procedures and practice, the more utterly enraged I am.  Violence and abuse in the home against women goes hand in hand with violence and abuse against the child.  The two are unmistakeably intertwined, and there is not a damn thing the so-called justice system is doing to stop it.  Everything is structured to support and safeguard the guilty party, which is predominantly the male members of society.  How can the court proclaim to be advocating the law of the children’s act?  You explain to me what is fair and just about that?”               

            But she couldn’t and could only manage to muster up a comment that those were the rules and that if alcoholics were not given such protection you’d never get anyone trying to kick their addiction.

            “Well, from what I’ve heard, some people go to AA because of a court order but they continue to abuse alcohol as soon as they finish a meeting!  Who’s monitoring them?” Sarah ridiculed.

            Valerie remarked that neither applicant nor respondent had anything positive to say about each other, at which point Greg mumbled that they’d had good times in the beginning but that Sarah’s mental disorder had put paid to any happy future they might’ve had.  He also remarked that her mental state had jeopardised the babies’ health and happiness to such an extent that he now so feared for their physical and emotional well-being whilst in their mother’s care.               

            Sarah responded by firmly disputing his atrocious accusation and affirming that it was he who had the schizophrenic tendencies and that as far as his ‘Mr nice guy’ side was concerned, well of course there were good times and loving moments; he was a good cook and not bad at DIY either, but unfortunately his overwhelming sinful side overruled anything that was good in him. 

            Valerie slapped them both down and maintained that all this pulling apart of each other was not getting anyone anywhere.  She asked if either had any documentation to substantiate their claims but of course neither had, except other people’s opinions such as friends and family members.

            In further discussions with Valerie Nuttall, Sarah and Greg were seen separately, sometimes with the babies and sometimes without and what conclusively emerged from these talks was the welfare officer’s determination to keep everything on an even keel.  For example, when Sarah called Greg a control freak, Val turned around and told her that he was making the same accusations against her.  She also implied that she was in agreement with Greg on this and accused Sarah of just wanting control over her kids and over the whole proceedings.  Sarah rebuked that there was a world of difference between ‘controlling’ which was for the right reasons, as in her desire to limit contact to reduce the risk of harm to Jason and Jessica, and the sordid malign control-freakery that Greg was guilty of and which had nothing to do with the welfare of Jason and Jessica or anyone else for that matter except Gregory himself.  Sarah later learned from Val that Greg had obtained glowing credentials from neighbours and that even the church had praised him to the hilt, which Sarah had half-expected recollecting Leila Dunn’s enthusiastic appraisal of him.  But what really stunned her was the newly acquired knowledge that one of the senior counsellors at Alcoholics Anonymous [who was also a prominent associate of the same church] Mr Phil Fisher had written a statement declaring that he recalled both Greg and Sarah visiting him requesting assistance with their alcoholism.  It also shocked her to learn that Leila was also of the belief that they had both attended church roughly one year ago in a bid to beat the booze addiction of which they both suffered.  Sarah explained emphatically that she had accompanied Greg on his first visit to AA and to church strictly as a supporter because otherwise he would not have gone.  Val just dismissed her claims, saying that she was in possession of signed statements to the contrary and she added that Greg had apprised her of the shed full of demi-johns, which Sarah stocked, of home made wine.  Sarah immediately retorted:

            “It’s true I did make home brew and there was a good stock in the shed maturing but I bet he didn’t tell you that I gave it all away and all the equipment when he announced his sobriety.  I figured that if I was going to support him I had to go the whole hog myself and become teetotal, so out went all the wine.  I can get signed statements if you like off the folk I gave it to.  Anyway, as for Mr Fisher, I’m appalled.  He knows very well that I only went once and only to encourage Greg.  Why don’t you check their official records?  You will see his name is down on the books and that he attended two other venues.  Why is it that you are taking heed of Fisher’s attestation which conveniently once again takes the onus off Greg and suitably incriminates us both, and yet you tell me that AA cannot be employed as proof?”

            Her lame reason was that she was in receipt of such statements, which were given voluntarily, but that the court would not afford them much weight.

            ‘No, likely story’ skitted Sarah under her breath, whilst all the time feeling haunted by the conspiracy theory that Greg had powerful aides who would ultimately help secure the custodianship dictate in his favour.

Sarah’s suspicions were further aroused when she received a visit from Sergeant Morris and his sidekick.  She was told in no uncertain terms that the chief superintendent had stated that unless she does not refrain from persistently involving the police in her difficulties with her ex partner, they would be seeking order to bind over both parties to keep the peace.  Sergeant Morris told her that he was formally advising her of the implication should further outbreaks occur and that he’d be visiting Greg also with the same warning.

            “Well that’s absolutely disgusting,” she blasted.  “How dare you come here threatening me with such orders.  Isn’t it about time you people started doing your job and arrested and detained evildoers such as Gregory Potter, instead of taking the easy option all the time and portraying the poor innocent victim as the villain?  Don’t you realise he is the perpetrator and I am the victim?  I can’t believe you’re standing there accusing me as if I’m at fault.  This is absolutely outrageous.  It is bad enough that the police fail to charge him with trespassing and harassment but to come here and try to blame me is utterly nauseating.  If this is how you conduct your business you should be ashamed of yourselves.  It’s no wonder the world has descended into all out anarchy and underworld rule!  And its no wonder women like me end up hospitalised and killed everyday.  It’s so common these days, it just isn’t news any more.”

            “Hey steady on, I’m only passing on the message from the guvnor.  No need to blow a fuse,” said the Sergeant.

            “You should tell your fat cat bosses to get off their regal backsides and out of their ivory towers and on to the streets to instil some law and order and bring to book sharks like my ex,” Sarah boomed.  “Better still, tell them to make a start by tackling crime in the home.  When you get domestic violence sorted, you’ve conquered virtually all of society’s crime.  Oh and before you go, I’d like to report more incidents of harassment that have occurred since Gregory Potter signed an undertaking.  He still lobs stones at my windows, deposits blobs of paint on my walls, activates the doorbell at all hours of the night and bellows messages of hate through my letterbox at any time during the early hours of the morning; not that anything will be done about it of course by you pretenders, he has got a license to torment.  Hasn’t he?”