Marie Tidball MP urges Prime Minister to change the law to protect children’s lives

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Marie Tidball MP urged the Prime Minister to change the law to protect children from domestically abusive parents, by removing the presumption of contact. 

Marie pressed to the Prime Minister that “We know of 48 children who have been killed by known domestically abusive parents during court-permitted contact visits, including Paul and Jack Sykes, who were tragically murdered in a house fire by their father.” 

Since their death a decade ago, Jack and Paul’s mother, Claire Throssell MBE, has been a tireless campaigner to remove the presumption of contact, and ensure children’s voices are at the heart of our family courts. 

The father who murdered Jack and Paul had a known history of domestic abuse, including making statements that he was capable of killing. Despite this, he was granted 5 hours of unsupervised contact per week with the boys. 

Jack and Paul would never have been in the reach of a known domestic abuser were it not for the presumption of contact. This legal principle facilitates parents being given contact with their children, even in circumstances where a parent is a known domestic abuser. 

We don’t know the true scale of the problem, and there is likely to be a far larger number of children murdered by domestically abusive parents, because only 10% of family court rulings are published. 

Marie also recently led a debate in Parliament raising these points to the Justice Minister, and was supported by numerous cross-party MPs, who made speeches in favour of Marie’s proposed change to the law. 

In response to Dr Tidball’s question, the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer MP said: 

“I pay tribute to my Honourable Friend (Marie Tidball MP)...[for raising] this critical issue. I particularly pay tribute to Claire. Her courage and strength are outstanding.  Family courts must never be a tool that domestic abusers can use to continue their appalling abuse. We are expanding a number of Pathfinder courts to protect the welfare of children and are reviewing the presumption of involvement that she raises.” 

Following the exchange, Marie Tidball, Labour MP for Penistone and Stocksbridge, said: 

“Claire is a tireless campaigner on this vital issue, and I am grateful to the Prime Minister’s tribute to her work. I welcome the review of the presumption of contact the Prime Minister confirmed. This government must now act to save the lives of children for generations to come, by ending contact at any cost. As Claire held Jack in her arms as he died, Claire promised him that no other children would die in the same tragic circumstances. I will keep pushing for a change in the law, to make sure Claire can keep that promise.”