CCChat-Magazine_Issue-27-Survivors-Speak

During one such presentation someone
told me of a 16 year old girl, who she'd
referred to us and the judge granted
the order against her 17 year old
abusive boyfriend for the rest of her
life. He said the level of risk that young
man posed for that young girl was so
great that he should never have contact
with her ever again. I think that shows
a fantastic safeguarding attitude from
the court, great to see they are taking
these situations really seriously.
M: What happens if the order expires
and needs to be renewed?
B: A person can apply for an extension
or a new order. NCDV would need to
So I was a police in London for 30
years. When going round to an address
to arrest somebody the last thing I
would want to do is for them to see me
walking up to the door, they run away
and disappear. It is very similar when
I'm serving an order, the last thing I
want is to do is give an abuser advance
warning that I am coming and end up
chasing them. All the time the order is
not served it’s not live so I want to
know, when I knock on the door, that
they are inside. So I’ll sit outside an
address some times and wait till I see
someone inside or their car pull up. I
remember serving one guy in a car
park where his ex-partner was
collecting their child from him.
" He said the level of risk that young man posed for that young girl was
so great that he should never have contact with her ever again."
convince the court there was a need for
it to be renewed or extended. I suppose
the easiest way to prove that there's a
need for an extension is if that order
has been breached within that
timescale and the victim still fears that
there's going to be some contact,
harassment or abuse. If somebody
then needs an extension or they think
they need a fresh order, they can get
back in touch with us and we'll do
everything we can to try and get that
done.
M: Obviously it's a bit different now
with lockdown but I have to ask this
question, did you ever stake out
someone?
B: Yes, most definitely I have! Before
working for NCDV I was a police
officer.
I didn’t have an address for him so I
sat in the corner of the car park. I saw
him pull up and once he handed the
child over, I walked over to his car and
served him in his car.
M: Do you ever get scared?
B: The honest answer is yes – I try to
control whatever I can but people can
be unpredictable! I always phone the
applicant and find out what his
reaction is likely to be - I say ‘he’ but I
have served orders on women as well
as men. Some applicants have told me
their abuser will be angry and violent
so I'll ask for a description of him. If he
is described as 6 foot 4 and muscular
then of course that can be quite
daunting.
Making The Invisible Visible