At my first visit to court on the 5th November, there were 2 representatives for Child Maintenance (one I refer to as Mrs P) prior to entering the court room Mrs P took me to a small interview room to talk about my case – I felt this was intimidating and she basically told me there was no point in being there, I would be leaving with a liability order. I decided to go into the court room regardless and I explained everything to the magistrates, (one male, one female) who although stating they didn’t have time to listen to what i had to say, eventually appeared quite understanding, and on the basis that there were clearly issues raised, adjourned my case until 17th December.
Returning on the 17th December I noticed Mrs P again, and the same second lady that was there the first time, but this time they were accompanied by another woman – and it was her conducting the interviews before court – I noticed two other men go in and leave angrily.
I believe she would have been trying to convince me it wasn’t worth going in – so chose not to talk with her – I would highly recommend anyone attending court to not talk to CMS before entering the court room.
The magistrates clearly didn’t understand the implications of their decision or know about the system – or were acting in favour of CMS.
The Magistrates asked CMS if I would be able to apeal their decision.
The magistrates told me to seek advice from F4J, but they don’t deal with CMS cases.
The magistrates told me to seek advice from the CAB. but CAB have a gagging order when dealing with DWP.