News

Appeal bid as Fathers 4 Justice man awaits sentence

By Clare Alexander
July 14, 2009

LAWYERS representing the Fathers 4 Justice protester who brought the M25 in Surrey to a standstill have lodged an appeal against his conviction.

Geoffrey Hibbert, from Farnborough, is due to be sentenced at Harrow Crown Court on Thursday.

He was remanded in custody last month after being found guilty of causing a public nuisance and endangering motorists.

The desperate father, of Clayton Road, spent more than eight hours dressed as Batman at junction 14 of the motorway near Stanwell, causing tailbacks stretching back for 55 miles on August 15 last year.

Fathers 4 Justice launched a petition after the 49-year-old was remanded in custody in June. It has been signed by 67 people.

Members of the campaign group, which lobbies for better child access rights for fathers, are expected to be in the public gallery at Thursday’s hearing but, at the request of Hibbert's family, have agreed not to protest.

Appeal

Hibbert was also said to have ended his hunger strike at Wormwood Scrubs on Monday. Fathers 4 Justice claimed he had only been accepting fluids at the prison.

A spokeswoman for Hibbert’s solicitors, Jung & Co, confirmed they had lodged an appeal against his conviction, which will not be heard until after he is sentenced.

If the appeal was successful, the spokeswoman said they would then appeal against the sentence.

Ron Reid, Hibbert’s best friend, said: "I can’t believe it has come to this. Geoff has been my best friend for 24 years and I have never seen him so broken. All he wants to do is see his daughter.”

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You oviously have never had your children and everything you own taken from you, you arec then forced into such a lonely horrible place and sinking deeper into that lonelyness doesnt seem to stop. every second of everyday thinking about your kids and trying to answer the question WHY when all there lives you have provided and loved them.

I can understand exactly why geoff did this and well done mate. he was a broken man, he had been stopped from being a dad and had to deal with not just his pain but the pain of his children missing there daddy.

The reason why New Fathers 4 Justice and Fathers 4 Justice wear super hero outfits is because it symbolises the way i child looks apon there daddy " as there hero" so before you mock a man a dad wearing a suite realise the pain and torment that they suffer not having the answer to Why this is happening when clearly it is the biggest for of abuse to children and dads

The reason why Fathers 4 justice and New Fathers 4 justice wear super hero outfits is because it symbolise

New Fathers 4 Justice Welsh Branch, Ponty pool
16/07/2009 at 00:06

im pretty sure geoff would not have fallen unless he had a totally unexpected heart attack there ( most unlikely ), also he would not have thrown anything ! thats not what were about, get a grip stop looking for ways out .

also whats wrong with dressing up ? maybe you should try it you seem to have a phobia against it ? yea we may look silly but is goes hand in hand with the laughability of family law and were all superdads that have done nothing wrong.

and what is your experience exactly ? i know plenty of cases where wrong desisions are being made, of which most you dont hear about because people get so fed up and give up, if those cases came to light and more people joined us to actively do something about it, family law would change tommorow. 100,000 child contact cases come into dispute each year in the UK, One in three children will lose contact with their Father within 5 years of their lives for no good reason.

jack straw is currently on a mission and opening up the family courts to stop the corruption, can you tell me whys he doing that if theres nothing wrong ???? thats a retorical question by the way

i suggest you stop commenting on a subject you clearly know nothing about, and hope your arrogance doesnt come back to bite you one day

cheers

newfathers4justice
15/07/2009 at 15:52

I see the “usual suspects” have responded! Please leave the politics behind and think about the morality of what he was doing. Of course the Police had to close the motorway - what would have happened if he had fallen or started throwing things at traffic – how were the Police to know what he was up to? Extreme actions like this achieve absolutley nothing. They just antagonise the very people that you are looking to for support. Lone men dressed in shabby costumes climbing on buildings or gantries is pathetic. They might attract the TV cameras or papers for five minutes but afterwards everyone is laughing behind their backs! How embarrassed must his children have been by his antics? I re-iterate; you are targeting the wrong people. You have every right to protest in a lawful fashion about whatever you like. But why involve innocent people (and children)? That is the height of selfishness. Partners often become difficult after divorce or separation but I have to say that my personal experience is that there is usually a very good reason why the courts deny access to some men (and women) Grow up!

Smiler
15/07/2009 at 11:56

smiler,

lobbying does absoloutely nothing this arrogant government have ignored us for years, and thats also speaking from experience, do you want to see some of the pathetic letters i have here ? from the ones that could be bothered to reply ?

direct action is what dads have to resort to. the police unessasrily closed the road not geoff by the way , he was on the hard shoulder, so blame them for your missed holiday ! i heard plenty of people "beeping" in support in the vid almost everyone knows someone thats had these contact problems now, is a shame this arrogant government dont sort it out now !, the expenses shows how quickly they can change things . to busy worrying about pathetic agendas to worry about society breaking down in front of them ?

newfathers4justice
15/07/2009 at 08:55

Personally, I think rather than considering a jail sentence for Geoffrey Hibbert we should start building a statue in his honor as he is a hero!

Geoffrey's actions have further brought about the necessary awareness that our children are being abused by a judiciary that is guilty of child abuse by keeping them from both fit and willing parents. I further believe that Geoffrey actually saved lives on that date, he did so by letting other fathers know that they are not alone, there are others of us who have been treated unfairly by these courts. Hopefully, some of those motorists also had an opportunity during their wait to reflect on what must be going on in these courts that would cause a man to climb a gantry.

In all actuality, anytime, anywhere that a father climbs a gantry for our children, we should all join him, I know I would!

Donald Tenn
15/07/2009 at 02:19

Smiler, I am sorry but I strongly disagree with you. I also did a similar stunt a couple of weeks before Geoff after having no contact whatsoever with my 3 girls for a whole year (now nearly 2 years). This Labour government have overseen the destruction of the family and the blighting of many 1000's of children's lives. Since they came to power, over 100,000 children have lost contact with one of their parents, usually the father. Many attempts have been made to talk to this useless uncaring government, but people like Harriet Harmen and Ed Balls won't even hear us out.

There is absolutely no reason why I should be stopped from seeing my children, but when my wife decided 'I couldn't see them', it took 3 months to get to court, where I was expecting to come away with justice and be able to see them again. However, District Judge Goddard in Trowbridge court said "Mr Line, Any contact is meaningful contact. I am going to allow you to write to your children once a month and send them small gifts at appropriate times".

This from a supposedly wise man who is meant to be looking out for children's interests.

This sort of nonsense judgement is commonplace and behind the closed doors of a family court, these overpaid, out of touch dinosaurs are ruining peoples lives.

I hope that you can now see in part what drives mature, responsible and loving fathers to take similar actions to Geoff.

I applaud him and he deserves our support. Remember this man spent over £50,000 trying to fight for access to his daughter through the courts.

HeartBrokenDad, Trowbridge
15/07/2009 at 01:39

The decision to stop traffic was not Geoff's. He presented no more danger than a sign painter who would work on the gantry. Do they stop traffic for sign maintenance. I think not. Mr. Hibbert has drawn attention to the injustice you and many other men face due to vindictive ex-wives and a judiciary who will not enforce access. Rather than criticize you ought to thank him. He is paying the price for potentially greater freedom in your country. You get to snipe from the sidelines. Its a pity.

MikeMurphy, Sault Ste. Marie, ON Canada
14/07/2009 at 14:47

I am a father who has had difficulty seeing his daughter in the past, so I do have so sympathy for some men who face these kind of problems. But to put lives at risk and to create huge traffic jams, which means that many people missed holidays flights was the height of stupidity. How silly to antagonise the very people you want to try and encourage to support your "cause"! If you believe you have a just “cause” you need to make your feelings known to the people who can change these things – the politicians – not dress up in laughable fancy dress costumes and disrupt large numbers of the general public! The fact that just 67 people have signed the petition says it all….