Mr Justice Keehan granted permission to appeal and allowed the mother’s appeal at the High Court on 6 July 2026 in a case argued by Elisabeth Traugott, a member of Goldsmith’s Family Team. Ms Traugott, instructed by Barrett & Thompson and funded by a Legal Aid Certificate, argued successfully that HHJ Tolson KC was wrong to refuse an application to adjourn the March 2025 final hearing when police disclosure into the mother’s rape allegation against the father had not yet been received, that the Learned Judge’s decision to progress contact to unsupervised overnight contact did not adequately assess the risk of harm presented by the father to the mother and the children and that the Learned Judge improperly narrowed the scope of the mother’s case by refusing to consider the rape allegation.
The case was the subject of a Transparency Order and was covered by the BBC:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr4779q56yeo
Related barristers: Elisabeth Traugott
Related practice areas: Family
