Who is painting our postboxes

The riddle of why postboxes in north Bristol have been repainted by vandals in a number of colours has left Royal Mail staff scratching their heads. The red pillar boxes have been given the bizarre makeover in four locations in the Bishopston and Ashley Down area with two being repainted purple, one painted yellow and one green.When the purple postboxes were discovered on Friday, it was thought that

Fathers 4 Justice was responsible as purple is the colour of the group's campaign for equal rights for fathers to see their children following separation.But a group spokesman told the Evening Post yesterday he was not aware of any involvement.The two purple postboxes are at Ashley Down Road and at Kennington Avenue, Bishopston. The yellow one is at Ashley Hill.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "These are acts of vandalism and we have reported them to the police.We have arranged for them to be repainted within the week.

"Jeff Skinner was the co-ordinator of a high-profile F4J stunt on February 2, 2004, when protesters dressed as Batman, Robin, Spiderman and Superman scaled the Clifton Suspension Bridge.F4J later split and Mr Skinner helped launch the Real Fathers 4 Justice group but is now preparing to help relaunch F4J in Bristol.He said: "We are aware of the boxes being painted and

I understand why people think it is us."The colour purple is our campaign colour as it is the European colour of equality and equality is what we campaign for."It is always difficult to say if something is 100 per cent not done by F4J, as someone could have done it without telling us."But I have spoken to some of the groups members and no one is aware of it

Fathers launch next stage in fight

A Campaign group for fathers' rights, which made its name with high-profile stunts, is kick-starting its work with a meeting in Bristol.Fathers4Justice (F4J) will be re-launching its fight for equal rights for fathers later this month - and say it will come back "bigger and better".

The campaign group gained worldwide publicity after four members scaled the tower of the Clifton Suspension Bridge three years ago dressed as superheroes.Members went on to take part in similar protests at Buckingham Palace, the Big Brother House and court buildings.Fathers4Justice took a break from direct action for more than a year after founder

Matt O'Connor disbanded the group following allegations of a plot to kidnap the Prime Minister's son, Leo.

A breakaway group, the Real Fathers 4 Justice, had been set up six months earlier when rows were sparked within the original organisation over donations. Jason Hatch and Dave Pyke, who were involved in many of the superhero protests, were forced out and key Bristol members Jeff Skinner and Chris Hawkins resigned as a result.Differences have now been smoothed over and many of the members from the group's heyday will be returning for the first meeting at The Beaufort Hunt Pub, Downend Road, Downend on February 28 (7.30pm)

Fathers4Justice has found that 12 months away from active protests has done nothing to change the family law system they see as unfair. They are now out to "finish what they started" with new ideas and new members.

Mr Skinner said: "One of the things directed at F4J was that, while we were doing stunts and direct action, nothing would happen. We were told 'stop doing it and something will happen'."But nothing changed in the legal sense in the 12 months F4J had off.

Family courts are still secret - even a terrorist gets better rights than fathers. The court system is still providing lots of angry dads."We are going to come back bigger and better, stronger and a little more aware what we need to do than we were before."Anyone wanting to attend the February 28 meeting is asked to contact Mr Skinner on 07973 273 334 or send an email to mailto:office@fathers-4-justice.org.

Fighting for justice on the big screen

08:00 - 09 February 2007

They scaled the walls of Buckingham Palace and the Clifton Suspension Bridge, closed roads and motorways and handcuffed themselves to Government Ministers.But now the antics of the controversial Fathers 4 Justice campaigners are being developed into a movie by a subsidiary of Walt Disney.

Fathers 4 Justice confirmed the film project yesterday, as they invited fathers from across the West to join them in Bristol later this month for the launch of a new campaign for more rights for fathers.And they say the new protest could lead to more roads and bridges in the city being temporarily closed.

F4J is using the city as its national springboard for a tour of the UK in the coming weeks in the build up to what they have called Fathers 4 Justice Day in June.The organisation is about to launch a new campaign with a new theme and a wave of spectacular direct action protests on national and local landmarks.In London, on Father's Day, the group will launch its biggest national demonstration to date.

The group has also written what is being described by one journalist as a "highly inflammable" book on the secret Family Courts which is due to be published in May though Orion Books.

Yesterday, it emerged a film script about the campaign is due to be finished in March.The campaigners hope the film, being made by Walt Disney subsidiary Miramax Pictures in New York, will garner further publicity when it is eventually released.

Richard Adams, Somerset- based South-West co-ordinator, said yesterday: "The new campaign is a response to Government reforms that have been deliberately derailed and Department for Constitutional Affairs Minister Harriet Harman's refusal to enter talks with F4J.

"F4J founder Matt O'Connor said: "We accept the Government's rejection of talks as a formal invitation for us to resume our campaign of civil disruption against Britain's secret Family Courts."The Minister might think she can sweep the crisis in Family Law under the omnipresent cloak of secrecy.

"She might have thought that F4J had been assassinated last year after the Leo Blair kidnap story, but she'd be seriously mistaken. We're back. "Mr O'Connor is scathing about the courts, likening the treatment of fathers to that of terrorist suspects.

"They give fathers 'contact orders'. These aren't contact orders, these are control orders that control the movement and time dads spend with their children. They are given out in secret courts - just like terrorists,"
he said.IF the Family Courts are so great, what does the Government have to hide? What is so secret? F4J will keep asking the difficult questions - and people can draw their own conclusions."

Mr O'Connor will announce details of the campaign at the meeting on February 28 alongside Richard Adams, Nigel Ace and local stalwart Jeff Skinner, along with Buckingham Palace protester Jason Hatch and the three other "superheroes" from the Clifton Suspension Bridge protest.

The Likely dads

THE LIKELY DADS
Date : 07.02.07

Three years ago, four men dressed as superheroes climbed on to Clifton Suspension Bridge to protest against the family justice system. Vicki Mathias spoke to the Fathers 4 Justice protesters

AS superheroes, they are an unlikely bunch, but the four men who scaled Clifton Suspension Bridge in February, 2004, had big ideas about how fathers should be treated.

Rush-hour drivers crossing the bridge were confronted with the sight of Superman, Spiderman, Batman and Robin looking down on them. This was Fathers 4 Justice's first big stunt and it captured the media's attention all over the country.

They staged similar stunts over the next few months, including one at Buckingham Palace, but it was the suspension bridge protest that first highlighted the plight of the men campaigning to see their children.

We caught up with the dads three years on.

JASON Hatch, 34, now lives in Trowbridge, but was in Cheltenham in 2004 and fighting through the family courts to see his sons, aged 10 and eight, and his six-year-old daughter.

After the Clifton Suspension Bridge demonstration, the painter and decorator climbed on to a ledge at Buckingham Palace in another high-profile and controversial stunt.

He says: "The Clifton event was my first Batman protest. We were on the bridge for 27 hours in 70mph gusts of wind. It was the stunt that kickstarted Fathers 4 Justice.

"I got full access not long after the suspension bridge event. Without a doubt, being in Fathers 4 Justice helped.

"It's because I was in front of all the cameras and people said I could have got shot. That was a risk I was prepared to take. I know how much I love my children, and they were worth putting my life on the line."

MARK, 33, of Horfield, Bristol, is a surveyor and now sees his nine-year-old son regularly. He asked us to withhold his surname to protect his son's identity.

He says: "It took me three years to go through the courts, and at the last count I'd spent something like £55,000.

"I wasn't eligible for legal aid, while my ex-partner was, which was even more frustrating. I had no faith in the legal system whatsoever. We needed to do something to bring attention to the issue.

"The suspension bridge plan just seemed to happen. I was there, and got dragged along. I didn't think it would be widespread at all, but it went global.

"I'm quite a quiet, shy person and keep myself to myself. I really hadn't imagined myself ever doing something like that.

"I do still have the Spiderman outfit I wore to court. The police destroyed the original one."

OF the four bridge protesters, Pat Lennon is the only one who has not been able to win contact with his children. The 49-year-old, of Cheltenham, has been fighting to see his daughters, now 11 and 15, since 1999.

"I'm an unlucky one. It didn't actually work for me, but in the case of others it has helped raise awareness," says Pat, who works in home-shopping for a supermarket. "I'm allowed to write to my children once a month. I've never wanted to take the children off their mother. I just want to see them on a regular basis.

"I'm still a member of Fathers 4 Justice, and hoping to get more involved again. I wouldn't mind doing a bit more climbing.

"We had no idea of the impact it would have. Normally, I'm scared of heights, but I just thought I'd go for it. People were saying how good it was that we did it. At the time, it was like being famous."

DAVE Pyke, who lives just outside Cheltenham, also credits Fathers 4 Justice with helping him to get regular access to his daughter, 13, and son, nine.

The 51-year-old took part in both the suspension bridge and the Buckingham Palace stunts.

He says: "Seeing my kids was a direct result of the suspension bridge protest.

"Prior to that, I'd been messed around so many times.

"While exciting, it was a little scary as well. I'd never been in trouble with the police and never been arrested.

"I ended up being arrested a dozen times, and now I've got a criminal record and convictions for protesting, which is really unfortunate.

"Breaking the law was the only way I got what I should have had in the first place."

Stunts fail to win fathers real benefits

STUNTS FAILED TO WIN FATHERS REAL BENEFITS

10:40 - 02 February 2007

The members of Fathers 4 Justice managed one thing spectacularly well - they got considerable publicity for their cause.Their stunts, initially, had the merit of being quirky and original.And behind the super hero costumes was a serious message.These were men who were genuinely desperate to see their children. In many cases, following their protests, they did get access.

Ultimately disharmony reigned and their movement self-destructed.The low point was the powder-filled condom attack on Tony Blair in the House of Commons - a moment where absurdity engulfed this organisation and made it appear irresponsible.Its membership was disparate from the start, held together only by the common aim of wanting to see their children more. But while they may have had a single goal they had as many individual and conflicting demands as they had members.

They were united in having an indestructible love for their children and a searing sense of injustice.In the end, thanks to stunts like the occupation of the Clifton Suspension Bridge tower, their movement enjoyed a brief spell in the spotlight.It did at least prompt a debate and maybe stirred the consciences of some. But it did not achieve any lasting change.

The courts of this land who rule over the custody of children still favour mothers above fathers.And there is still a culture in our society where mothers and fathers are not considered equal as parents.

There are thousands of dads who are denied access to their children, who miss out on birthdays and Christmas and seeing their sons and daughters growing up.And there are many, many more whose time with their children is limited and who break their hearts every time they have to say goodbye.That is something that not even real super heroes could assuage.