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."