Drunken dad assaults mom, holds baby out of upper window; is this a "Fathers 4 Justice" dad? (Plungington, England, United Kingdom)

Dad GEOFFREY FAIRCLOUGH has pleaded guilty to child cruelty and common assault in this incidence. Seems Daddy had hoisted a few too many pints, and got into an argument with the mother. The two do not live together and reportedly she had just ended their relationship. Guess Daddy got pissy about that or something, and took the sleeping baby from her bed. Mum tried to stop him and he punched her in the face. He then took the baby back to his house at 2:45 in the morning. The baby was dressed in nothing but a sleep suit.

Police were called, and Daddy refused to answer the door. In fact, he appeared at the upper window, with the baby in his arms, and started shouting obsenities and "Fathers for justice" at the police below.

Whoa! Is this a Fathers 4 Justice member or sympathizer? Kind of says a lot about the current state of the fathers rights movement and the daddies within it, doesn't it?

Anyway, this guy who is obsessed with "fathers for justice"--but apparently not with the basic safety or well being of children--opens the window and dramatically steps out onto the window ledge. If this isn't a familiar Fathers 4 Justice tactic, I don't know what is. For some reason, these guys are entranced by high places.

All the while Dad is dangling the baby from one arm. He is still drunk, and apparently stumbling. According to police, the only reason he didn't fall was that the baby got caught in the window frame.

Daddy then barricaded himself--and the now hysterically screaming child--in his house. He continued to scream obscenities at the police and threw water at them. Police negotiators talk to this guy for 6 HOURS before he turned over the baby.

And he only did so on the condition that the MOTHER be supervised. This is how warped these guy's brains are. You see, Dad's not a menace or a danger. Mom is. The one who DIDN'T tie up the police in a 6-hour drama queen standoff and dangle the baby off a window ledge. The one who didn't bruise that baby's head. Oh, but he was "so concerned about the baby's welfare," he says.

You have to be a thoroughly brainwashed father's rights droid to even begin to identify with this, so don't try.

Of course, Dad has no remorse. Why would he? In the Fathers 4 Justice world, daddies are always right. I wonder if his attorney, Greg Earnshaw, is with Fathers 4 Justice too. That would explain his bizarro comments as well.

http://www.lep.co.uk/news/Dad-held-baby-out-of.6126713.jp

Dad held baby out of upper window

A drunken father held his one-year-old daughter out of an upstairs window during a six-hour police siege at his home.

Window cleaner Geoffrey Fairclough was warned he could face jail after pleading guilty to child cruelty along with a charge of common assault on the child's mother.

Fairclough, 45, stumbled as he stepped on to the window ledge 15ft up at his home in Eldon Street, Plungington, after snatching the baby from her cot at her mother's home.

Prosecutor Sarah Gruffydd told Preston magistrates Fairclough had gone back to the mother's house in Lawson Street – where a teenager was babysitting – after drinking in the Market Tavern, Old Bull and Assembly pubs on October 16 with his former partner and mother of his baby.

The woman had ended the relationship when a drunken row broke out, during which Fairclough claimed he was kicked.

The row escalated and Fairclough took his sleeping daughter from her cot in her mother's bedroom and left the house.

The child's mother, Renee Middleton, tried to stop him, but Fairclough punched her in the face before taking his daughter out into the night at around 2.45am dressed only in a sleepsuit.

Police were called and, after searching the area, went to Fairclough's home, which was in darkness. He appeared at the upstairs window, with the tot in his arms, refusing to answer the door and shouting obscenities and "Fathers for justice" at police officers.

Miss Gruffydd said: "He opened the window fully.

"He had the baby in the crook of his arm, took hold of the window frame with his left hand and stepped with one foot on to the window ledge."

Police officers said the baby was in front of Fairclough "dangling" over his right arm.

He was clearly drunk and stumbled as he stepped on to the window ledge.

Miss Gruffydd said, "The only way he was prevented from falling was the baby caught on the window frame."

Fairclough then barricaded himself and the child – who was crying hysterically – into the house, continuing to be verbally abusive to police, and throwing water at them.

He eventually handed the baby to police negotiators at around 8.50am, when they agreed to return the child to her mother under supervision.

The baby had a bruise on her forehead, but a hospital examination showed she was otherwise unharmed.

Greg Earnshaw, defending Fairclough, said his client accepted he had assaulted his ex-partner and said: "He decides that the right thing to do is leave.

"With hindsight he shouldn't have taken the child with him."

He said Fairclough was concerned about the baby's welfare and once back at the house "wanted to be left alone".

Magistrates said Fairclough had shown no remorse and adjourned the matter for sentencing on March 31.

Greg Earnshaw said it was not a case like Michael Jackson's: "He's not showing the child off to a crowd and he's not dangling her over the pavement. He's opening the window to say here she is."