Injunction advice needed for violent ex

goldbyron

Hi - I posted here early this year as I was considering taking my ex (she is female and so am I if relevant) to court to sell a joint property. On everyones good advice I went to a solicitor - to cut a long story short I completed 2 weeks ago after 10 very long months.

My ex has been verbally intimidating, controlling and finally assualted myself and my dad as we collected my posessions 5 weeks ago. We called the police but didn't press charges.

My ex has made a number of death threats against my current partner of 2 years and many physical threats to me. She also has mental health problems (depression and more recently diagnosed with borderline personality disorder) and has a network of support. She has tried to kill herself at least twice in the last 26 months and has been sectioned.

This week my ex found me and my current partner at a social organisation we are all familiar with and immediately went to physically assault her. She was removed from the premises however as I went to check on my car (with her friends for protection!) she came steaming down the road threatening to kill me. I managed to get into the building in time just before she tried to break the door down with her boots. She then ran off into the night threatening to kill herself. The next day I found razor cuts through my spare tyre cover and dents in the side of my car with boot prints. She also rang my partner home phone (don't know how she got the number) to say she was going to kill herself.

I will making a statement and so will my partner this weekend. I have reported damage to car but not enough evidence. I remain very concerned about the situation and the risk to me, my partner and my family.

What action is open to me to take such as an injunction - any advice would be gratefully recieved.

Thanks

hjb123

Sorry to hear of your situation you must be having such a hard time through all of this.

I am afraid that I dont know the answer to your question - but can the police not explain your different options? It maybe worth a trip to your local Citizens Advice Bureau - though I dont know whether they deal with these sort of situations or not.

The following website may be of use to you:
BBC site on injuntions and domestic violence

Bossyboots

You've answered your own question. You can apply to the county court for an injunction against her and so can your partner. The best scenario would be for the police to arrest her in relation to the threats to kill and impose bail conditions on her to keep away from you and your partner.

If the police will not play ball with that one, then it is the county court you need and if you had acted straightaway you could have made the application without giving her notice. In view of the level of of problem, the court might still let you do that but you should really do it immediately, rather than wait a few days. You don't need a solicitor to do it. The court will have the forms and they are probably on the court service website. You will need to take them to the court and hand them in and ask for the application to be heard ex-parte. If granted, this will give you an order for seven days and in that time she will be served with a notice of the next hearing. If she doesn't attend that hearing the injunction will be extended in her absence. You need a penal notice attached which you then lodge at the local police station and it means that if she breaches the injunction the police can arrest her immediately and hold her until she can be taken before the county court for contempt.

In all honesty, injunctions are not the be all and end all but some people obey them and some police forces are good at enforcing penal notices but it can be a bit hit and miss. It is certainly worth you going down this road though in the hope that you will get the protection an injunction is supposed to afford.