Leicester Family Court National Business Centre

Milburn Hill Road

University of Warwick Science Park
Coventry
CV4 7JJ
Tel: 0300 456 4000
Email: CEITGeneric@cafcass.gov.uk
20 November 2020

Cafcass Reference: 1016265

Cafcass Letter to the Court

Court: Leicester Family Court

Court Case No: LE20P01311

Court Review of Safeguarding (no parties to 10/12/20

attend)

Child subject of the application

Name of child Gender Date of birth Age

Muhammad Abdullah Shahzad Male 28/10/2009 11 years

Adult parties to the proceedings

Name of party Gender Relationship to Date of birth

child
Shahzad Asif Khan Male Parent 11/04/1979

Zainab Qayyum Female Parent 04/08/1986

The Court sent Cafcass the C100 application in the above case, listed for Court
Review of Safeguarding (no parties to attend). Following this appointment, the court
will send you a court order which will tell you your first court date.

The purpose of this letter is to inform the Court about Cafcass’ work to date.

NOTE: Significant factual errors (not matters disputed by the parties) in this letter
should be referred to the author. Any concerns about other aspects of the letter (for
example, the extent of enquiries, the opinions expressed in it or matters disputed by
the parties) must be addressed in court.
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Summary of Cafcass screening actions and outcomes

Muhammad (11) lives with his mother, Ms Zainab Qayyum. His father is Mr Shazad Khan
who has applied for a Child Arrangements order to spend with him. The parties share
parental responsibility.

The parties were in a relationship for 8 years. Between 2012 until 2015 they lived
separately whilst Ms Qayyum was studying in the UK and Mr Khan lived in Pakistan.
During this time Muhammad lived at different times with Mr Khan in Pakistan and his
maternal Grandparents at Kashmir (the exact arrangements are disputed by the parties).
The parties separated in 2016 shortly after Mr Khan moved to the UK to live with Ms
Qayyum. Ms Qayyum advised that since their separation in 2016, Muhammad has
spoken to his father on 1 occasion in February 2020. Mr Khan reports there to have been
occasional calls via facetime/Skype until last year when Ms Qayyum suspended all
communication.

The Documents read: C100.

Mediation and Information Assessment Meeting (MIAM): Mr Khan only has attended

Police: There is no trace of either party on the Police National Computer (PNC).

Local Authority: The family is not known to Birmingham Children’s Services or Slough
Childrens Services. Children’s Services checks for the area in which Ms Qayyum lives are
requested and awaited.

Cafcass: The parties are not previously known to Cafcass.

Summary of any risk identification contacts made by Cafcass

The following is a summary of the relevant safeguarding issues raised during the
telephone interviews.
Ms Qayyum:
• Her relationship with Mr Khan has featured domestic abuse which she fled from in
2016. This included physical and emotional abuse which Mohammad was exposed
to. When they were living in Pakistan and in the UK, he regularly hit and slapped
her. It was a forced marriage and her family told her that it was Mr Kahn’s right to
do this.
• Mr Khan has been verbally and physically abusive towards Mohammad, he has hit
him in the face, pushed him and shouted and sworn at him. Following a brief
phone call from Mr Khan in February 2020, Mohammad became upset. He is
frightened of Mr Khan and worried about spending time with him.
• Mr Kahn was very controlling. In 2012 she came to study in the UK and left
Mohammad in the care of his Maternal Grandparents in Kashmir. Mr Kahn forcibly
removed Mohammad from their care and told her she must either return to
Pakistan to live with him or arrange for him to come to the UK to live with her if she
wanted to see him again.

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 • There was an incident in September 2016 shortly after Mr Khan moved to the UK
where he threatened to kill her and Mohammad and which she reported to the
police. He also made threats to return with Muhammad to Pakistan.
• She believes Mr Khan used drugs and alcohol when they lived in Pakistan. He
would return home intoxicated and this exacerbated the domestic abuse.
• Mr Khan has not shown any interest in Mohammad for the past 4 years. She
believes that this application has been prompted by his visa application to the
home office to extend his stay in the UK and that he is living in the UK illegally.

Mr Khan (with the support of an Urdu interpreter):

• Does not raise any safeguarding concerns regarding Ms Qayyum’s care of
Muhammad. The lack of contact since he and Ms Qayyum separated is affecting
his relationship with Muhammad. He disputes any allegations of domestic abuse
and has never hurt or harmed Mohammad in any way.

Analysis of issues arising from screening or risk identification

Mohammad is a young boy who is alleged to have experienced verbal and physical
abuse from Mr Kahn towards Ms Qayyum and himself and has in the past felt unsafe and
frightened in his own home. If there is truth in the allegations, which are disputed by Mr
Khan, it will have been extremely frightening for Mohammad. His experiences are already
evidenced to have impacted on him; he is said to have struggled emotionally and it is
alleged he no longer wishes to spend time with Mr Kahn. As Mohammad has not spent
any time with Mr Khan since 2016 this will have impacted on the development of that
relationship, however his need for safety is paramount and any decisions about contact
need to be made with only his needs as the primary consideration.

Cafcass initial safeguarding enquiries are incomplete as the check from Children’s
Services is pending. There is no independent information to corroborate Ms Qayyum’s
allegations. However, the alleged incidents lead me to suggest that if there is truth in
them Mohammad has experienced significant harm and that Mr Kahn displays little
insight about this. Therefore, I would advise that Practice Direction 12J is relevant in this
case and that a Fact Finding hearing is essential to establish a factual basis on which
further assessment can be based. Concerns are also raised about Mr Khan’s commitment
to Mohammad and his current visa status which require further exploration before safe
arrangements could be progressed.

Advice to the Court:

• It would assist if information is obtained in respect of Mr Khan’s current immigration
status.
• Following this being established, Practice Direction 12J is relevant and I
recommend that parties should be ordered to file Scott Schedules in preparation
for the Court to determine if Fact Finding is required. I would respectfully advise
that a safe further assessment cannot be completed without the disputed
allegations of domestic abuse and harm towards Mohammad first being
determined by the Court.

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 • There should be no interim arrangements until the highlighted issues have been
assessed.
• The court may wish to consider a Prohibited Steps Order as a holding position until
a final Order is made.
• Cafcass will write an updating letter to the court when the pending check from
Children’s Services is received.
• Mediation and the Separated Parents Information Programme are not considered
appropriate.

A copy of this letter has been sent to the parties. A translated copy will be sent to Mr
Khan in Urdu.

Letter completed and signed by

Jo Mills - Family Court Adviser

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