Dads' campaigner in Palace protest

September 13, 2004

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PROTEST: Jason Hatch

A FATHERS 4 Justice campaigner dressed as Batman breached security today by protesting from a balcony at Buckingham Palace.

Jason Hatch, 33, from Gloucester, managed to reach the royal residence despite the presence of armed guards, the group said.

Matt O'Connor, spokesman for the organisation which supports fathers' rights, said: "We've got a guy dressed as Batman who's on Buckingham Palace on a balcony."

"He legged it past the armed guards."

A Buckingham Palace spokeswoman said: "There's man there, but it's a police matter.

"I'm not sure where he is but I can hear him shouting."

The Queen was not at the Palace as she is away enjoying her summer break at Balmoral in Scotland.

"We've got no members of the royal family in residence," a Palace spokeswoman said.

The protester, standing on a ledge to the right hand side of the main balcony at the front of the palace, unfurled a banner which read: "Super dads of fathers 4 justice".

Also on the banner are the words: "Fighting for your right to your kids".A policeman on the balcony to the left of the protester appeared to be talking to him.

Another two men stood on the balcony.

Police cordoned off the area immediately in front of the palace and a crowd gathered to watch on the Queen Victoria Memorial.

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Gregory Lyons, Seattle (13/09/2004 at 16:32)

How appropriate to choose THE monument of family dysfunction for this moving expression.

Ethan, Taos, New Mexico (13/09/2004 at 16:39)

Maybe some people know, but why not give at least a blurb about what this guy was talking about. I know its a crazy stunt, but might as well give the guy some credit and put his issues in the paper. Now I'll just ahve to wonder.

Joe Black, Sudbury Ontario Canada (13/09/2004 at 16:43)

Eat your heart out Catwoman!

Evan, That Place (13/09/2004 at 16:50)

The article quoted the banner incorrectly.

Dave (F4J), Manchester (13/09/2004 at 17:33)

As a member of F4J in Manchester I am very pleased at the success of this publicity stunt to highlight our cause.

The Queens crest is positioned over the heads of all the Judges who deny fathers their rights to be parents. The Queen is the top of the legal chain and this plight of national fatherlessness needs to be seen, heard and acted upon.

Well done to Batman (Jason Hatch) and Robin (Dave Pike) for putting this issue back on the map and giving it global coverage.

Yet again the fathers of this country highlight the flaws in all the security systems, when will they listen to fathers who have been highlighting the flaws and failings in the Family Legal System? Its obvious fathers know best, just as much as mothers do !

a dad, manchester (13/09/2004 at 18:01)

Thanks batman
no kids
but hope

christian bastick, ROCHDALE (13/09/2004 at 18:06)

jason has all my support. his head is in bits.just like all us other fathers who cant see our kids the only bad person is the person that stops the child seeing the father every child looks up to there father why not the laws.....all fathers should up the anti

peter norton, chorlton-on-medlock, manchester (13/09/2004 at 20:32)

once again fathers for justice have highlighted major flaws in state security! - as well as getting excellent publicity.

Mark Addison, Lancashire (13/09/2004 at 20:47)

It's a shame the lengths men have to go to to get equal rights to see their kids about time the goverment woke up and did something about it!

John Kelly, Bolton (13/09/2004 at 21:06)

Bullying Tactics:

Whatever next:
Police state, "If he had been a terrorist - he would have been shot"

Naturally, a Terrorist would unfurl a huge banner and stand their in a prominent outfit for several hours where he could 'best' be shot at ! ! !

Truly, not only is our police hopeless at their task, they live in 'Never, never land' where fairy tales can be told and perhaps be believed !

Of course, it should not be forgotton - the protest is against the ' ' Terrorist' ' behaviour of the Family Courts. Men have gone to war to safeguard our way of life, but for men, this way of life requires a war against the State.

Michael Wiffen, Ashton-under-lyne (13/09/2004 at 21:19)

The Man is an hero to all the children that are unable(through the injustices that are going on in our family courts) to see a perfectly decent parent,mainly fathers.
The government and the courts need to address the issue of broken contact orders.
Last year alone 50% of the 65,000 contact orders were broken by the resident parents.CONTACT ORDERS ARE NOT WORTH THE PAPER THEY ARE WRITTEN ON !!!

When broken these contact orders are very rarily enforced. This can result in a very lenghy process of returning to court. In the meantime the children are not seeing a perfectly good father,who as already been judged to be a decent father.HOW MUCH HARM IS THIS INFLICTING ON THE CHILDREN.

Rachel Lunn, Holmfirth, West Yorkshire (13/09/2004 at 22:18)

Another fantastic demonstration bringing the emotive matter of equal parenting into the public eye. Why should children be "fought" over surely its better for the children to have a balanced upbringing with equal time with both parents. Why is is automatically assumed that the only person that can give children the best upbringing is the mother. The only people that currently gain from challenging this archaic view within the current legal framework are the so called "family" lawyers who see pound signs when any father refused access by the mother walks through the door.

karen pellow, nelson (13/09/2004 at 22:57)

well done to u young man staying up there in the cold i wish ur people good luck in all ur marches you will eventually win all the best karen pellow x

Stan, Openshaw (14/09/2004 at 07:19)

How do you stop more superheroes staging demos? Give them what they want - the right to see their kids. When dad is denied contact, the children lose half their family which will be 50% female. Mothers who deny children contact with their fathers are abusing them. F4J has many female members, grandmothers, sisters, new partners etc. all of whom suffer, so this is not a gender issue.

A S Deol, Bradford (14/09/2004 at 08:20)

It's about time the government decided to listen to F4J and all the other groups who are trying to get the law changed to be fairer towards fathers - The recent government paper is a shambles - surely parenting should be shared 50/50 where possible. Fathers have a rough deal - I am sure that if the roles were reversed - and women had to 'fight' to see their children the law would have been changed years ago.
Look at the US - Virtually every child case stats at 50/50 shared parenting.

As far as the security breaches go - maybe the government dont want to do anything to support F4J - they are doing the government a favour by exposing all the security loopholes.

Hats off to all these guys. You're doing a brilliant job.

A

A Morris, Bury (14/09/2004 at 08:57)

Well done to Jason. As a divorced father with children I fully support Fathers 4 Justice. The system in this country for the access to, and custody of, children especially for fathers is an absolute disgrace.I'm lucky that I get good access to my children but I am very much in the minority.The whole process requires an immediate overall so access is fair to ALL parties.Drastic measures require drastic action.

Gary Robinson, Chorley (14/09/2004 at 09:47)

The best of luck to the chap who has scaled Buck House.

It's about time fathers started to act to make soceity aware of how important fatherhood is. Every bit as important as the mothers role in a childs life.

Until legislation regarding Family Law is actually implemented properly we should only expect more of these events.....

F4J are to be applauded.

Craig Cooper, Eccles, Manchester (14/09/2004 at 09:53)

I fully support the efforts of Fathers for Justice. I have two boys aged ten and seven who I have not seen for the last eighteen months. I have attempted to resolve contact issues in a correct manner through Trafford Court for over a year now without any success. My children have been influenced by their mother and her family and have been shown court papers and told about court hearings in an attempt to alienate myself from them. The Court ordered that my boys see a professional organisation called Pro-Contact. This organisation accept that my boys have been influenced by conversations they have heard but advise myself that the Court do not have any jurisdiction over these types of issues (known as parental alienation syndrome) except in extreme cases where children have been abused.
Pro-Contact have told myself that in their opinion it will only harm the children more if they continue to have appointments with them, as the boys do not want to continue seeing them. Due to this Pro-Contact are going to recommend to the Court that I should have no contact at all with the boys. My case is also made more difficult as my ex partner is actually an employee of Trafford Magistrates Court working in the section that deals with cases involving The Children's Act.

Rob Devlin, Bolton (14/09/2004 at 09:56)

I think the fathers for juctice guys are very brave and determined in their peaceful protest. I've had experience of the family law in Britain and it needs changing. That's what these guys are trying to do, so that they can see their children. It should be a human right, but most people who don't have a problem take it for granted. Everyone with children should stop and think 'What would it be like if, for no good reason, I was stopped from seeing my children'. We need to get behind them and get the law changed for the good of the children and our future.

Pete, Crewe (14/09/2004 at 10:17)

Fantastic job Batman!
I havent seen my two boys in 18 months and am currently going through the courts and have had first hand experience at how belittled fathers are considered in the family courts. Also cafcass are a complete joke. Well done F4J, me and thousands of others are behind you all the way!

Tony Dean, Stockport (14/09/2004 at 10:42)

Good Luck & Well done Jason. I am in a contact & custody dispute and I have not seen my daughter since May. My ex has played the domestic violence card against her new partner and the authorities have believed her. She is now housed 200 miles away from me and my son ( who resides with me )She is now settled and back with her partner who she blamed for the DV. What a waste of public money and emotional abuse to our children. Get your act together BLAIR youve had 2 terms to change the family law system, to make things equal and fair.

Antony Dean ( Bredbury Stockport)

Jane Andrews, Davyhulme, Manchester (14/09/2004 at 11:42)

Well done Jason!! You have highlighted what a shambles this country is with regards to fathers rights and guess I have to mention it - security. It should be every childs basic right to have a relationship with their father and also with their grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins etc - when parents separate how often do these members of the childs family get alienated too?

Jim Currie, macclesfield (14/09/2004 at 17:08)

Great news for dads fight for better justice. The treatment for dads at court needs big changes and not only in access to children. Due to wrong legal decisions and judgements at Manchester and Macclesfield my life was ruined . My buisiness went under because of a wrong decision by a judge with loss of 14 jobs and over B#1 million in assets. I was bankrupted by the courts wrongly and I got nothing. My home was under threat and they came after me again for money with threats and the only reason I was in debt was the courts and they hounded me again. I ended up in prison because I could not meet child mainetenace payments ...a direct result of being bankrupted in error by the courts.
I got no fair treatement and worse my kids lost their dad and his financial support and they say it is for the best interests of the children!!!!!
I would level child abuse at certain judges at Manchester and Macclesfield. I would level charges of corruption at them too. I would name them all publically and as for a Manchester solicitor who I have details on that should have him struck off the law society do not want to know. Add to that a devious miscreant at a liquidator firm in Manchester or part of the child abuse ring then you have a picture of a rotten aseet stripping machine that grinds father's into the ground in the name of the best ineterstes of the children. My experience is only one of many where we are shorn of any human rights in many areas.
So great that F4J have shown up again the inadequacies of our government who seem keener on foxes than on fathers and children

Steve C, Manchester (15/09/2004 at 19:55)

I'd love your stories to carry the message that all the good dads who have joined fathers 4 justice what to get across.

I don't want to live through this hell again and that not only means for me but for my son too.

If anyone is acting for children it is fathers 4 justice because we have virtually given up on the now but we don't want anyone else to go through this and that means our children and your children too.

Well done Jason.

Steve

b.love, bolton (08/05/2005 at 18:35)

I think f4j are a disgrace. The genuine dads that are being stopped from seein their children are now being tarred with the same brush as the idiots dressing up as so called super heroes. In our single parent groups, there are alot of ex-f4j members and these guys are now ashamed to have been a part of something that as just made the public see some absent dads as bullies.

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