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Muslim father in custody faith fight
A Muslim father asked the Court of Appeal to overturn an order which placed his young son in the care of his Christian grandparents.
The man, who is from Preston but cannot be identified for legal reasons, objected so strongly to the four-year-old being placed with Christians that he took his case to the central London court.
He attended the hearing yesterday, but had his case rejected as "unarguable" by a top judge.
The child had been handed over to the parents of the boy's drug addict mother after Lancashire County Council took him into care in 2006.
The father applied to Blackburn County Court for the order to be discharged, but had his bid refused.
Giving the court's judgment, Lord Justice Wilson said: "The judge (in the county court case) found that, in the light of his profound religious convictions, the father was totally opposed to the bringing up of his son in a Christian environment and, in particular, had been particularly opposed to his being allowed to attend a Christian wedding.
"It is not for me to say whether the teachings of the Prophet support that degree of rejection of exposure to other faiths." The father, who has another child he is not allowed to see, was of "great intelligence", but was also a deeply troubled man with complex psychological, spiritual and interpersonal issues, he added.
There had been unproven accusations that he had threatened the four-year-old's mother and her parents and that he had a gun at home.
The father appealed against the refusal to discharge the care order on a series of grounds, after submitting a great deal of densely-typed paperwork and citing more than 70 other cases.
Refusing permission to appeal, Lord Justice Wilson also criticised the father's submission of so many documents, which were more like a book than court paperwork, he said.
He added: "In particular, there was, in my view, no credible material which might have emboldened the court to conclude that, in the event of further inquiry, the father's grave psychological problems had been overcome.
"I perceive no proper basis for an appeal against the judge's dismissal of the father's application for discharge."
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Weather for Preston
Wednesday 08 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -3 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: South east
Tomorrow
Light sleet
Temperature: 3 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
