‘Children are not to be turned into snowf lakes. They have to learn to live a life’
Judge warns court breach dad for dropping off youngsters
A CrOwn court judge has suggested children are in danger of becoming ‘snowflakes’ because of the over-protective modern standards of care.
Judge rupert Lowe spoke out after hearing that a father had breached a family court order that prevented him from going within 100 metres of his estranged partner’s home.
He had done so in order to drop off their children – because he claimed he did not consider that it was safe to make the eight and nine-year- old’s walk unaccompanied.
On hearing the reason the father had flouted the order, Judge rupert Lowe said ‘They know the way, don’t they?’
defence solicitor Steve Young said the father did not want to risk anything
‘Anxiety and depression’
happening to the children, which could then jeopardise his rights of access.
But the judge retorted: ‘Yes, but children are not to be turned into snowflakes. They have to learn to live a life.’
The term ‘snowflake’ is modern slang for a person with an unwarranted sense of entitlement or who is overly emotional, easily offended and unable to deal with opposing opinions.
As he bemoaned the burgeoning culture, Judge Lowe told Gloucester Crown Court on Tuesday: ‘ In 1971, 80 per cent of children walked to school and by 2023 it was 25 per cent.’
He claimed current thinking was ‘not doing children any good’ and added: ‘Then we wonder why everyone is complaining about anxiety and depression.’ The court heard the father, from Gloucester, had dropped off the children 30 metres from the property. He pleaded guilty to breaching the non-molestation order between december 24 and december 29 in 2022 by entering the exclusion zone around his former partner’s home.
Mr Young revealed that the order had been imposed at the ex-partner’s request and in the father’s absence.
The judge told the father he ‘should have attempted to have the terms of the order changed to make sure you were not in breach’. But he added: ‘Because it is not a very serious breach, I am not going to impose a punishment. It will be a conditional discharge so if you stay out of trouble for the next 12 months you will hear nothing more about this.’
The judge ordered the father, who is unemployed and claiming benefits, to pay £150 towards costs because he could have saved public expense by pleading guilty at a much earlier stage of the proceedings.
In november, Judge Lowe declined to send to prison motorist Michael Ashton, who drove into a 16-year-old, after hearing at Gloucester Crown Court how police had previously failed to investigate the youth for allegedly harassing the retired mechanic. The judge said he was ‘surprised’ that officers had not taken action over the accusations of anti- social behaviour towards Ashton, 67.
In the absence of any other evidence, he stated that he assumed Ashton, from Gloucester, was telling the truth about the youth – who suffered a fractured foot and whiplash after being knocked off his scooter.
He gave the pensioner, who admitted dangerous driving, a suspended jail term and year-long driving ban.