Mother in court battle to change child’s ‘tainted’ name

A MOTHER who no longer liked her child’s middle name has won the right to have it removed in a legal challenge costing thousands of pounds in legal aid.

The mother, who cannot be identified, objected to the child’s middle name because it was the same as an infamous public figure which she said gave it negative connotations and would therefore harm the child.

But the father wanted to keep the name, arguing it was an essential part of the child’s identity.

The mother took the case to the family court where she was granted legal aid.

The court ruled in her favour last year but the father was granted the right to appeal.

In a separate hearing in May, he assured the judge he would only use the child’s first name and would not refer to the famous name in any correspondence.

But this week the appeal judge hearing the case in Lincoln, Mr Justice Rogers, agreed that the continuing existence of the middle name would damage the child’s emotional welfare and upheld the order to have it removed by deed poll. He said: “At birth the child was given two forenames by the parents and registered with both.

“The child is most commonly known by the first name but the father uses both and says he favours the middle name. The middle name is a normal, well-established name. It is not eccentric or in itself offensive. However, the mother’s case was that, as a result of its association with a notorious public figure, it is infected with bad connotations.”

The case is bound to draw unfavourable comparison to Charlie Gard’s, whose parents were denied legal aid to try to save their son’s life.

Last week politicians criticised the legal aid system after it was revealed that the Gards did not receive the assistance.

The Gards’ local MP, Labour’s Seema Malhotra, was reported as saying: “It’s clear it needs overhauling. The heartbreaking case of Charlie Gard highlights why it’s wrong for parents facing this situation to not have access to legal support or for there to be so much uncertainty.”

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem home affairs spokesman, said: “This shows the legal aid system is broken and urgently needs to be fixed.”