AFCC: The Man behind the Curtain

     AFCC was at one stage a judges slush fund of where bribes perverted the course of justice in California's family Court.  Not only did it serve as a platform for corruption, but was also became the loudspeaker of Dr Richard Gardeners work in the 70s and 80s.  The trail of devastation for victims was left behind with few who held accountable and more who profited upon these ills.  Dr joan Kelly, co-founder of AFCC and CRC  Authored "Reformulation of Parental Alienation Syndrome"  as an attempt to revive Gardeners theories, so that it were more acceptable to its readers with the same custody outcomes, but omitting the obvious quotes that revealed the motives behind his work.  She was also on the advisory panel of Children's Rights Council along with Warren Farrell who was featured in penthouses, "Incest The Last Taboo".  He states,


"the incest is part of the family's open, sensual style of life, wherein sex is an outgrowth of warmth and affection. It is more likely that the father has good sex with his wife, and his wife is likely to know and approve -- and in one or two cases to join in."


   Parental Alienation Syndrome created lavish lifestyles for those who promote and advocate for its existence for many years and so it is no wonder attempts to revive it were made.  The reason why it was beyond controversial, was the fact that this syndrome led to many deaths.  Nathan Grieco a 14 year old boy who did not want to see his father and alleged abuse by him.  Gardner was an expert in his case and ordered what he referred to as, "Threat therapy" where he threatened the child with jailing the mother if he failed to go.  Shortly after, Nathan committed suicide.    


Thanks to one of the many decent fathers who spent $100,000 investigating California courts for his daughter to unravel why his grandchild was rendered motherless without reasonable cause, we know that this organization was used in this manner.  

     Much is left unanswered on why the environment of most family courts contain an automatic contempt for mothers, but hopefully this article will shed some light.  CANOW, provided an extensive report on the activities of the AFCC and how it was creating a system of abuse and corruption.

     The AFCC have denied promoting pro-child abuse and violence against women material, yet the content of their conferences tell a different story.  Below is a training session where it trivializes empirical studies that verify the damaging effects of not only exposing the victim to the perpetrator, but also children.  It distracts away from the safety of women and children to mislead practitioners into believing that there is a guaranteed method to separate those who are "just being abused" to those at imminent risk of death.  There is no credible method in the world and to boast such a tool is clearly negligent.

Just in case the inevitable becomes obvious with the increase of deaths due to negligence, they provide an answer to that too.  Below is a course on how to avoid accountability and continue backyard methods on treating victims of family violence and child abuse.  

  Here is a prime example of how Gardeners perspectives are very much alive and unchallenged in this organization.  The whole topic is dangerously superficial, misogynist and trains professionals to look at the mother as the issue, instead of looking into why she might be 
concerned about the child being alone with the father.  

Again, another training session on how not to be accountable and promotion of Gardeners theory.

More promotion of Gardeners concept where the victim is perceived as mentally ill and distorted as the perpetrator.  

Instead of providing a genuine focus on prevention of risk and subjecting victims to further trauma, professionals are trained on how to avoid accountability and attribute further injustice to their clients.  

Below is advertisements on the typical fathers rights agenda translated in the language of academia.  Despite years of research on the harm of infants spending minimal to little time with their mothers, below is advertisement on how to encourage maternal deprivation.  

Below is a conference from AFCC last year with more about maternal gatekeeping. Whilst "Violence Against women" topics are omitted from these conferences, "Maternal Gatekeeping" appears to be a popular event.    

More disturbing was this article found on an AFCC website instructions on how to use the legal avenues on forcibly adopting out children if the mother does not comply.

Below is a questionnaire targeting alienation.  Note how child abuse factors are not assessed.

This is one of AFCCs conferences on "Differentiating" domestic violence cases.  In other words, a how to expose the children and women to violence unless it is extremely obvious that they are at imminent risk of death.  When they refer to "Situational Violence" this means that if there is only one recorded incident, then they can justify ignoring the victim of further concerns and continue exposing them to risk.  At present, evidence of one episode of violence is not enough in family court law.  They require several incidents of brutality before they decide to order supervised contact and in some cases, nothing is done at all.    

For anyone who has had contact with fathers rights groups, they are anything but silent.  Again it is another example of the organizations lacking neutrality leaning towards the context of the mens movement.  The presenters here are mimicking intimate partner terrorism victims to skew the experience and thus generate encouragement to foster undue control over women parallel to the nineteenth century child custody experience - where children were the property of men.   

Again like every other fathers right organization, they are promoting shared parenting without considering much on the consequences.

AFCCs Influence on the Psy-Law Community in United States 
In "News Today", the article claimed that there was "new research on maternal gatekeeping" that, "Mom needs to know when to let go".  Again, its deemed the mothers fault for fathers taking less of an active role pre and post separation.  When the mother does in fact resist visits, its usually for a good reason.  Surveys on mothers have often reflected contrary to these beliefs that mothers do want their children to spend time and know the father, but not when it he poses a threat to them.  


The influence of AFCC in united states is ingrained in the Family Court system.  Lundy Bancroft explains this well in his publication:



JANET JOHNSTON'S TYPOLOGY OF BATTERERS AND THE AFCC RISK ASSESSMENT:
THE QUEST FOR SIMPLE SOLUTIONS
Efforts are underway nationally to ease the complexity of assessing risk to children from
visitation with batterers by placing batterers into distinct types, based largely on the work of
Janet Johnston. For example, a risk assessment distributed nationally by the Association of
Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) draws heavily from Johnston's work. The types Johnston
posits are as follows:

Type A: "Ongoing or Episodic Male Battering"
Type B: "Female-Initiated Violence"
Type C: "Male Controlled Interactive Violence"
Type D: "Separation and Postdivorce Violence"
Type E: "Psychotic and Paranoid Reactions"
(These types are called by slightly different names in the AFCC risk assessment, but are exactly
the same in other respects.)
Type A is considered the real batterer; he is very frequently and severely violent, and he
uses violence to control his partner.
Type B is violence that is initiated by the victim; she gets hurt because she is smaller, but her behavior is the problem.
Type C is violence caused by
"mutual verbal provocations," and again the woman is the victim only because she is physically
smaller; she is considered equally abusive.
Type D is violence that results from the stress of
separation and is completely uncharacteristic for the abuser.
Type E is violence resulting from a mental health problem.
This typology contains more problems that can be covered here. The types were preconceived,
with researchers instructed to assign each case to one of the categories. The research
has little external validity; her types have no relationship to any patterns observed by domestic
violence professionals in the clinical setting. Relying on these categories leads to serious errors in crafting visitation plans. Risk to children can be assessed, as we will see, but not by this
approach.

  The great majority of batterers do not fit any of Johnston's types, because they exert
"chronic pervasive control," but it is not accompanied by the most severe or frequent violence.
The most common batterer is one who uses violence two or three times a year, whose partner has never been hospitalized with injuries, and who shows no evidence of sadism. Nevertheless, his partner and children exhibit trauma symptoms due to their fear of the abuser, the repeated denial of their basic rights, and the pattern of psychological attack. Assessing the risk to these children from unsupervised visitation is a complex process, and the danger varies greatly from case to case.
  These categories encourage us to assess the victim rather than the abuser. The "A" type of
batterer is considered the only real batterer; he is described as having a victim who is severely
traumatized, who is passive and withdrawn, and who rarely starts arguments or challenges the
batterer. A woman who is stronger, angrier, or generally more unpleasant to interact with, would
be likely under Johnston's approach to be seen as mutually abusive and provocative, the "C" type of relationship; she would thus be considered largely responsible for the man's violence. In
reality, most abused women, even those who are terrified, do not give up all forms of fighting
back, and continue attempting to protect their rights and the rights of their children. The more
that the victim refuses to submit to the abuser's control, the more likely he is to escalate his
violence. Under Johnston's typology, the more courageously a woman attempts to defend herself and her children, the less responsibility the abuser has for his actions. Using this approach serves the batterer's interests well, but endangers the children. The result of this approach is that some of  the most dangerous abusers, those who are the most determined to dominate at all costs, are ironically declared to be the lowest risk to their children.


AFCCs Influence on the Psy-Law Community in Australia
If you think that this organization would not have much influence on the culture of the Family Courts, think again.  The Australian Institute of Families, a research body for the family court quotes references from their conferences throughout their publications and many of its members have presented and joined the organization.  The Family Court of Australia advertises upcoming conferences to the family law community and many judges and court personnel have been members and presenters to the conferences.  


  An appalling example of how the australian government dealt with our indigenous community.  Rather than provide more services to ensure the safety of women where statistics of family violence are much higher, this program was funded based upon "Maternal Gatekeeping".  A term used to divert the focus away from the reason why she is concerned about the child being left alone with the father.  


Sadly Child Protection in Western Australia jumped on the band wagon to preach on how they not only believe that fathers are safer with children than mothers, but that they are "Maternal Gatekeepers".  


In the Australian governments family relationship clearinghouse were a series of articles for and against the use of parental alienation syndrome in family court context.  The fact that it was even listed in the library endorsed junk science and may have mislead readers into believing that such a syndrome was prevalent above child abuse and family violence.   On the last pages of the CANOW report, the American Psychiatry Association verifies that PAS is not a syndrome, that it is not being considered for the diagnostic and statistic manual in the near future as there is no real scientific validity.   


On Lawlink.gov in NSW, a link to Parental Alienation Syndrome is listed which refers to Gardeners books.  By even linking to it is another endorsement from the Australian government that using junk science to conceal family violence is acceptable.  Considering that not only does the syndrome target victims of domestic violence as "alienators", it also promotes sending the child to the abuser.  


Internationally, AFCC has grown and so have fathers rights movements coinciding this culture.  one of the major problems is that a majority of its material erodes protections made available for victims and cultivates a closed patriarchal environment that mothers are at the mercy of.  Whilst outside these courts, women's freedoms are welcomed and accepted, but behind closed doors, she is perceived as a shameful act.  The Family Courts are the last institution that practices values belonging to the nineteenth century.  They do not respect nor value the lives of women and children in their research that could be easily compared to the propaganda authored by nazi researchers that were used to endorse genocidal goals.  The courts need to rely upon more balanced institutions research such as the world health organization that acknowledges violence against women as a major problem, but also provides research on both genders without hidden agendas. 


   Organizations that research violence against women and children need to be wary that due to the fact that abusers are cross class and cultures, they will work towards undermining their protection by any means and monopolizing laws and psych culture, they are able to continue unchallenged.  That is why it is crucial that every organization considers the opportunities that intimate terrorists may have in engaging in terrorism on a larger level whether it be in groups of like minded or by abusing the powers within professions.  This needs not only to be researched, but desperately addressed, before we have more laws that hurt women and children.

Stop The Responsible Fatherhood Bill

"All I ever wanted was supervised" a repeated phrase amongst family violence survivors.  The Family Court has come under recent scrutiny over unsafe contact and the controversial use of Parental Alienation Syndrome a diagnosis that has not been accepted by any scientific organization globally.  The bottom line is that children are ordered by the court to attend access visits where the parents are abusive.  If the mother objects, she risks losing the children altogether.  That is the state of not only the Family Court in Australia, it is an international problem.  

Until recently, there were few groups that were advocating for children and far too many groups advocating for such forced contact.  "Pro Contact" culture is really just being polite.  "Contact No Matter what" Cult, is more appropriate considering the facts that there is no limit as to who they wish children to have contact with.  

Cult definitions coined from 1920 onward^[1] refer to a cohesive social group and their devotional beliefs or practices, which the surrounding population considers to be outside of mainstream cultures. The surrounding population may be as small as a neighborhood, or as large as the community of nations. They gratify curiosity about, take action against, or ignore a group, depending on its reputed similarity to cults previously reported by mass media. -Wikipedia

Bizarre punishments against mothers are initiated by the courts if they do not comply without consideration for the impact that the children suffer.  

Some of these punishments include:

"Isolating The Child From The Protective Parent"

"Orders inhibiting the Child From access to Counseling"

"Removal of The Mothers Passport'

In cases where the parent has a mental health condition that is one of the leading causes of homicide, the protective action is often minimal.  Some orders are for the parent to take their medication and see their doctor, but left entirely to the device of the patient and the potential victims are left restricted by the court order and helpless to what might come about.  The Court evaluators who make the decisions that the judges often solely rely on are often untrained for these cases, but overtrained in the area of "pro - contact' and too well understand the terms of "maternal gatekeeping" "Alienation" and "False Memory Syndrome".  They believe that the child is not unsafe in relationships with sex offenders if they "just accept it" without the interference from mothers.  

This is due to the fact that in the early 80s, Dr Richard Gardner coined the term, "Parent Alienation Syndrome" and travelled the world with the help of Association of Family and Conciliation Courts(AFCC).  Many conferences were held indoctrinating lawyers, psychologists and judges into the belief that children are better off with abusive parents.  This belief was also supported by the international Child Emancipation, a lobby group for pedophiles.  

Cases where there is not enough evidence to support Family Violence are often referred to as, "False Allegations" and in most cases the victim is required to pay costs to the alleged perpetrator. This goes against studies that support the notion that in 95% of child abuse cases are true.  Clearly it is the interference that the victims receive during the court processes that leads to the lack of evidence that is able to be provided.  

Like the German Lebensborn organization, they said, "Best Interests" but the intention was to reintroduce laws that tie women to men and diminish any concerns regarding child abuse and violence against women.  The current family law regime reduces the value of children and mothers compared to men and promotes the cycle of violence continuing through to another generation.  Like a genetic disease, our children have been infected with family violence.  

The German Lebensborn organization was similarly cruel in its time.  In the context of the German welfare system, it was considered that it was the "best interests" of the child to be German.  By abducting babies of other origins for German families, "Best Interests of the child" was created to serve the purposes of racial intolerance.  Today in the context of Family Law, "best interests of the child" refers to the amount of time spent with a parent no matter how abusive they may be. 

Although there have been more efforts to protect mothers and children affected by family violence with the Violence Against Women Act and the introduction of the Protective Parent Bill, PAS is still alive in the US court system and have progressed to a point where they are supporting it through the "Responsible Fatherhood Bill".  Like best Interests, it is aimed at enforcing contact with fathers regardless of the rise to epidemic proportions of murder suicides.  In sect 2, "Findings" it states that the reason to provide fathers with billions of dollars in funding is due to:

6) Children who live without contact with their biological father are, in comparison to children who have such contact--

(A) 5 times more likely to live in poverty;

(B) more likely to bring weapons and drugs into the classroom;

(C) twice as likely to commit crime;

(D) twice as likely to drop out of school;

(E) more likely to commit suicide;

(F) more than twice as likely to abuse alcohol or drugs; and

(G) more likely to become pregnant as teenagers.

(7) Violent criminals are overwhelmingly males who grew up without fathers.

  

The findings stated here is derived from a confirmitory bias. If you look deeper into the research, it becomes obvious that:

Children were economically abused by the fathers and the state for withdrawal of financial support of children.  It is in fact written in the convention on The Rights Of The Child:

 

Article 26

1. States Parties shall recognize for every child the right to benefit from social security, including social insurance, and shall take the necessary measures to achieve the full realization of this right in accordance with their national law.

2. The benefits should, where appropriate, be granted, taking into account the resources and the circumstances of the child and persons having responsibility for the maintenance of the child, as well as any other consideration relevant to an application for benefits made by or on behalf of the child.

 

The "Violent males who grew up without fathers", were in fact infected prior to the separation by witnessing the actual violence.  According to Amy Coha:

• Boys who witness domestic violence are more likely to batter their female partners as adults than boys raised in nonviolent homes. Of the children who witness domestic abuse, 60% of the boys eventually become batterers.
• Sixty-three percent of boys age 11-20 who commit homicide, murder the man who was abusing their mother. In 50% of the time, if the wife (mother) is being physically abused, so are the children.

Teenage pregnancy is an old sexist phrase that draws the need to look at the pregnant women as the problem.  Contraceptives apart from the condom are directed at her as entirely responsible for the pregnancy.  According to Rape Abuse and Incest Network(RAIN):

Girls ages 16-19 are 4 times more likely than the general population to be victims of rape, attempted rape, or sexual assault.

 

Victims of sexual assault are:⁷

3 times more likely to suffer from depression.

6 times more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

13 times more likely to abuse alcohol.

26 times more likely to abuse drugs.

4 times more likely to contemplate suicide.

The fact that in some states, the perpetrator can apply to the Family Court to stop the abortion and continue these attacks on her suggests that women and girls are considered by the state as objects rather than human beings.  If such a bill were to pass, it would be a greater violation to the already eroded human rights of women and children.  

Mothers: Essential

Make your favorite mom(s) a star. 
Send a customized video now.

We bet you know a lot of moms who deserve a "Mother of the Year" award. Imagine their surprise when they get a video news clip saying she won this award. Be sure to send yours before Mothers Day this Sunday.

Just fill out the form below and we'll send her the video with her name embedded in it. We'll also send you a copy of the video so you can forward it to her friends and family, if you want. Everyone should know she's won "Mother of the Year." Right?

‘TIMELESS IMPORTANCE OF MOTHERS’ ONE CONSTANT IN CHANGING WORLD FACING MULTIPLE CHALLENGES, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MESSAGE ON DAY OF FAMILIES

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message for the International Day of Families, observed 15 May: 



This year’s International Day of Families, being commemorated under the theme, “Mothers and Families: Challenges in a Changing World,” focuses on the important role of mothers for families and communities around the world. 



Mothers play a critical role in the family, which is a powerful force for social cohesion and integration. The mother-child relationship is vital for the healthy development of children. And mothers are not only caregivers; they are also breadwinners for their families. Yet women continue to face major ‑‑ and even life-threatening ‑‑ challenges in motherhood. 



Childbirth, which should be a cause for celebration, is a grave health risk for too many women in developing countries. Improving maternal health is the Millennium Development Goal on which the least progress has been made. A woman in a least-developed country is 300 times more likely to die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications than a woman in a developed country. We must make pregnancy and childbirth safer by enabling health systems to provide family planning, skilled attendance at birth and emergency obstetric care. 



Violence against women, many of whom are mothers, remains one of the most pervasive human rights violations of our time. It has far-reaching consequences ‑‑ endangering the lives of women and girls, harming their families and communities, and damaging the very fabric of societies. Ending and preventing violence against women should be a key priority for all countries. 



We must also ensure universal access to education. The benefits of educating women and girls accrue not only to individual families but to whole countries, unlocking the potential of women to contribute to broader development efforts. Statistics also show that educated mothers are much more likely to keep their children in school, meaning that the benefits of education transcend generations. 



As we strive to support mothers in their caregiving work, we should develop and expand family-friendly policies and services, such as childcare centres, that would reduce some of the workload placed on women. Women and men alike need stronger public support to share equally in work and family responsibilities. Families built on the recognition of equality between women and men will contribute to more stable and productive societies. 



We face multiple challenges in our changing world, but one factor remains constant: the timeless importance of mothers and their invaluable contribution to raising the next generation. By rewarding their efforts and enhancing their living conditions, we can secure a better future for all.

The Importance of Mothers

Surprising Truth About Heredity and Moms

By Robin Nixon, Special to LiveScience

posted: 08 May 2009 10:20 am ET

Buzz up!

Comments (4) | Recommend (3)

Every baby gets half his or her genes from Mom and half from Dad. But it is primarily mothers who shape how many of those genes are first expressed. 

Genes pack the code of life, determining much about who we are and how our bodies work. But how genes expressthemselves — what they actually do or don't do in each individual — affects everything from looks to agility to whether one gets a deadly disease.

And a mother's influence can begin long before she is pregnant — or even fertile. Studies are starting to associate mothers' early childhood nutrition, toxin exposure and other experiences to the well-being of future offspring.

Start early

For example, consider a recent finding by Larry Feig and colleagues at Tufts University. It has long been known that mental capacity can be improved by exposure to an enriched environment. (In a lab mouse's case, basically anything better than a bare-bones cage will do.) 

Feig followed mice that experienced such "education" in their youth as they grew up and then mated in conventionally boring surroundings. The next generation inherited the mother's smarts without ever experiencing a decked-out cage themselves. 

The inheritance was what scientists call epigenetic in nature and not a result of better postnatal nurturing: The pups of a wise mother were more intelligent even when raised from birth by a non-enriched mother. And the education of daddy mice, in this case, had no effect. 

Very first home
 
After fertilization, the mother's egg provides the environment in which parental genes first start working. In addition to the mother's mitochondria (the powerhouse of cells), we inherit the cell cytoplasm of our mothers, which influences how the nuclear DNA is expressed, via epigenetic processes such as methylation, said David Bjorklund of Florida Atlantic University. 

The maternal environment extends from the egg to the placenta after conception. Nutrition and other stimulatory cues, such as hormones, sound and movement, which are mediated by the placenta, provide guidance to the developing fetus on how to prepare for the outside world. 

A colorful example is a classic finding by Ralph Tollrian at Ludwig-Maximilians University in Munich. If a pregnant water flea senses a nearby predator, she experiences a surge in stress hormones and defensive helmet-like growths sprout over her neck and tail. Her offspring are also born with the enlarged helmets, which are metabolically costly, even if the threat has long passed. 

Similarly, human babies in utero during stressful occurrences, such as Sept. 11, may be at a greater risk for anxiety disorders, researchers are finding.

Very first relationship

The juvenile stage of humans is among the most prolonged and demanding of the animal kingdom. The early helplessness of offspring may explain the evolution of fidelity and community living — as childcare is too taxing for one person in isolation, Bjorklund said.  

However, even in our fairly egalitarian society, Bjorklund said, "the first social and emotional relationship of newborns still tends to be with their mothers." The relationship serves as the foundation of how we relate with siblings, extended family members and loved ones later on, he said.

But the foundation is set in sand, not stone. Researchers have found that some epigenetic changes during this period of development are reversible. Damage or benefits resulting from early care can be undone by experiences later on, Bjorklund said. 

"I think very highly of mothers," Bjorklund said. "They teach us how to be social and how to relate to others ... And for a [social] species like us, that is the most important thing." 

• Video – A Mother's Touch

Silent Violence: Australia's White Stolen Children

Australian Digital Theses Program

Thesis Details
Title	Silent Violence: Australia's White Stolen Children
Author	Moor, Merryl
Institution	Griffith University
Date	2006
Abstract	This thesis makes a significant contribution to the existing knowledge on 'unmarried mothers'. Much of the literature on 'unmarried mothers' has been written by white, male, middle-class professionals who assume that unwed mothers are happy to place their babies for adoption so that they can be free to pursue other interests, meet other men and make a new life. However, after interviewing many of the mothers who gave up their babies in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s in Australia, I found this was not the case. Many of the mothers had wanted to keep their babies but were forced to relinquish them by their families and the wider society who seemed more intent on upholding nuclear family values than making available the resources needed to keep natural mothers and their babies together. My argument throughout this thesis is that given a choice - a viable economic and socially supported choice - many of the unmarried mothers, typified by those whom I interviewed, would not have parted with their babies. Most mothers interviewed, and presumably many of those in the community at large, have experienced much pain and grief as a result of the separation - a grief which is profound and lasts forever. Using Marxist feminist theories of the state and post-structural theories, my thesis highlights the perceptions and memories of birthmothers about the birthing experience and adoption as experience, process and life consequence. I also argue that the removal of white, working-class babies from their mothers compares in some small way with the removal of the indigenous 'stolen children' in the same period. The removal of Aboriginal children from their homes and cultures has been referred to by some scholars and activists as a form of cultural genocide. While the removal of babies from white, working-class, unwed mothers was different in that it had few racial implications, I argue that the system in place at the time was patriarchal and class-based and as such left the young, unwed women with no options but adoption. The thesis makes a very important and socially significant contribution to our understanding of unmarried mothers in that it presents a largely unwritten history of women. Rich in the voices of unmarried mothers, there are important conceptual, empirical and practical policy implications flowing from the research findings.
Thesis	01Front.pdf (88.2 Kb) 02Whole.pdf (1127.2 Kb)

Mother's surprise confession exploded cot death theory

In the last of his series on criminal cases being considered for appeal, Duncan Campbell examines the evidence that could free a woman with a mental age of 10 from a life sentence and the circumstances in which a man was jailed for stabbing two racist attackers

• Duncan Campbell
• The Guardian, Saturday 4 January 1992 00.01 GMT
• Article history

Early this year, the Court of Appeal will have a chance to hear for the first time the case of Jacqueline Fletcher, who was jailed for life at Birmingham crown court in 1988 for drowning her six-week-old son, Glen.

Ms Fletcher, now 23, was born in Bangor, north Wales, and grew up in Atherstone, Warwickshire. When she left school she started going out with a young petty criminal, Glen Miles, and became pregnant by him.

Her first baby was born prematurely after what Warwickshire social services described as 'physical abuse and kicking by the father-to-be' and weighed just over two pounds. She was not capable of looking after the child properly - doctors now say she has an IQ of 70 and a mental age of 10. The child was taken into care and eventually adopted.

Her second child, Glen Richard Miles, was born in September 1984, again prematurely. The child's father was back in prison shortly after the birth. Social services worked closely with Jacqueline to make sure that the child was properly cared for. She was visited daily by at least one person connected with the social services.

On October 19, 1984, a postman, Gary Penny, arrived to deliver mail and found Ms Fletcher crying 'my baby, my baby.' The child was dead on the sofa and Mr Penny called the ambulance and police. An ambulanceman attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. A pathologist's examination suggested that the child was a cot death victim. No inquest was held, as is the normal practice, so that parents are not caused further distress.

More than three years later, in December 1987, and a mother again for the third time, she was complaining about the fractious nature of the new child. With her landlady in the room, she said: 'I'll do to you what I done to the other.'

The police were informed and she was taken to Nuneaton police station and questioned for six hours. At the start of the interview she told the police that she had woken and found her baby dead. But later, after she had asked her solicitor, Ian Richardson, to leave the room she is recorded as having admitted to the killing, giving 'post-natal depression' as her reason. Her solicitor said he was shocked to find she had changed her mind when he returned and witnessed her full confession. She was charged with murder.
Even at this stage it did not appear that Ms Fletcher would be jailed for life. Infanticide, in which a mother suffering from post-natal depression takes her child's life, is normally seen as necessitating treatment and care rather than jail.

The main evidence against her in court was her confession, in which she described how the baby struggled under water. A Home Office pathologist, Dr Peter Andrews, also gave evidence based on an analysis of microscopic slides of body tissues, which had been kept for routine research purposes. From these, Dr Andrew concluded that the pathology was consistent with drowning. After the jury had convicted her on a majority verdict of 10 to two she was given a mandatory life sentence.

But there were many puzzling factors which a probation officer working with her became concerned about. Justice, the British section of the International Commission of Jurists, was contacted. It in turn alerted the BBC programme, Rough Justice, and an investigation was launched.

New aspects emerged: her mental age suggested that the confession might be unreliable there were inconsistencies in the method by which she said she had drowned the baby. The second factor concerned the testimony of Dr Andrews. Rough Justice contacted a number of experts in paediatric pathology and their findings were that the pathology was equally consistent with cot death.

It was discovered that there had been testimony given by Dr Andrews in which he had referred to the child's lungs as being 'waterlogged' this, it transpired, had only been an attempt at putting complex pathology into layman's language. In fact, far from having any extraneous body fluid in the lungs, the fluid to which Dr Andrews was referring was a naturally produced body fluid. (The pathologist who carried out the original post-mortem had not been called to give evidence in the trial. He stands by his view that the child died a cot death.)

Bryan Tully, a clinical psychiatrist, and an expert in police interview techniques, said that it was highly unlikely that someone of Ms Fletcher's level of intelligence would use a phrase like 'post natal depression.' It could have been the case, he suggested, that she had got the idea that, if she just pleaded guilty to infanticide, she believed she would not serve any sentence.
With this new evidence, leave for appeal was sought and granted. Just before Christmas, Lord Justice Russell gave permission for the defence to seek further evidence to be taken from another pathologist, Dr Iain West. Next week there will be fresh consultation between the experts at which stage the Crown will decide whether or not to contest the appeal.

Warwickshire police have criticised Rough Justice's programme, accusing it of 'inaccuracies and half-truths.' They have stated that the jury made their decision on the evidence in front of them and on the basis of a confession made by a woman who said she had killed her child. They say they will co-operate with any appeal.

Jacqueline Fletcher's father, Leslie, says he believes the appeal case is 'as strong as any case can be' and says he never believed his daughter had killed her child.

Net knows best for modern mums

Net knows best for modern mums 
28 April 2009

Modern motherhood is as much characterised by social networks and online communities as traditional coffee mornings and conversations across the washing line, according to research out today from Post Office Broadband.

The new research, ‘Keeping Mums Connected’ shows that every year, the average online mum chats to 24 online friends who they have never met in person, and that 83 per cent of mums use the internet - 17 per cent more than women in general.

Social networking sites and forums are giving mothers the chance to converse openly about sensitive matters - a new trend which has coined these online parents ‘Anonymums’.

Faye Mingo from parenting club Bounty, commented: “Online social networks and forums offer mums an anonymity that allows them to be candid and frank about the challenges of motherhood without fear of condemnation or embarrassment.

“Motherhood can be a daunting prospect and women have always been dependent on friends and family to provide a support network.

“Now we’re seeing these circles of influence grow as women share their problems and experiences with people in the same situation – from choosing baby names to coping with post-natal depression, women are finding additional support and advice thanks to the internet.”

Internet usage among mums is highest in East Anglia, with 91 per cent of logging on in the last year, compared to the lowest areas of uptake in the North East of England (75 per cent) and Yorkshire and the Humber (74 per cent). The national average is 83 per cent.

The report also showed that mums are using the net for other activities to keep themselves connected to friends and family: 25 per cent of mums use the internet to share photographs (compared to 18 per cent of all UK women), 29 per cent bank online (22 per cent of all UK women), and 19 per cent use online auction sites (11 per cent of all UK women).

Hugh Stacey, head of broadband at the Post Office, added: “The internet offers a wide range of information, advice and interaction opportunities for parents. This research shows that mums are getting more out of the net than the average female web user – be it emailing friends and family, buying and selling baby goods, or sharing photos.

“The internet is providing mums with a critical link to information and advice in the outside world as well as providing a quick and easy way to complete every day tasks. For many mums, it’s hard to imagine what life would be like without it!”

Post Office Broadband is a reassuringly easy-to-use service with national coverage and one price - wherever you live. It offers up to 8mb per second connection speed and you can pay for the service in cash at any Post Office branch nationwide, an option not offered by any other internet provider.

In addition, 3.8 million mothers a week visit a Post Office, a useful one-stop-shop on the high street for mums, with services including mobile phone top ups, bill payments, savings and Child Trust Fund information