The family courts have been issuing orders to protect former partners in a relationship for many years, and an alleged breach of a so-called Non-Molestation Order carries not only a power of arrest but the prospect of criminal prosecution. It used to be rare indeed for the police to use this power and criminal prosecution was reserved only for the more extreme and/or persistent cases. This is no longer the case and breach of any kind of protective court order is very likely to result in an appearance before the Magistrates Court.
Mr G had been married for over 20 years when his wife and two children left the family home. A Non-Molestation Order was granted by the family court in the aftermath of the separation, it was not contested. Early one morning, almost two years later, Mr G was waiting outside his workplace, a building site about a mile away from his ex-wife's home. He was arrested for allegedly attending that home a few weeks earlier. He was interviewed and gave a full account of his whereabouts on that day. Although this was the first allegation of attending the home, he was prosecuted for the alleged breach.
The offence of Breach of a Non-Molestation Order carries a maximum penalty of 5 years imprisonment and can be tried at either a Magistrates Court or a Crown Court. Mr G chose to be tried by a judge and jury and stood trial at Kingston Crown Court in February 2009.
He was acquitted after an emotional trial which pitched ex-wife against ex-husband. The case took almost a year to come to trial and was divisive for the whole family. Our Crown Court Advocate, Richard Gowthorpe, who had conduct of the case throughout, has reservations on whether such cases should be heard before criminal courts: "Any alleged breach of a court order is a very serious matter but there seems to be a strong argument for some of the less serious breaches to be dealt with back at the family court which initially issued the order. A case like Mr G's would have been dealt with much quicker in the family court and all parties would have benefitted".
