 Dads denied the right to see their kids, have attacked eagerly- awaited plans to improve child access. Among them is this desperate Teesside father. He is a loving dad denied access to his four-year-old daughter. "I am," says the 33-year-old from Billingham, "an inconvenience in her mother's life." So instead of enjoying happy hours with the little girl he loves desperately, Peter can only dream about the time when he can. "It is a mad, mad world," he says. "I was there when my daughter was conceived. There when she was born. We had a strong bond. And now I am allowed no contact." As an active member of direct pressure group Fathers 4 Justice, he brands the new proposals a "cynical rebrand" which will not help. "But we will win," he says. "I don't know when or how long it will take. But we will go on until we do." Since Peter and his wife split up 18 months ago, he confesses life without his little girl has been hell. He was allowed to see his daughter for only a couple of hours every two weeks and then not at all. Then five days before Christmas in a bid to enforce an order giving him more time with her, he went to court again. At this point, he says, the case was adjourned and he was denied access until it goes back to court in September. "Words cannot describe how I feel about not seeing her," says Peter. "And it is not just me, my whole family feels the pain of not being with her. "I have spent years of my life in a family environment and suddenly my time with my child was cut to two hours a fortnight. "I believe parents and grandparents have a legal right to see their children and grandchildren. "Okay, so a 50-50 time basis is a starting point for negotiation, but there is an absolute bias against men seeking access to their children." He is now divorced and he supports his daughter financially. "I don't care how long it takes, I will never give up on my daughter. "The only reason I cannot see her today is because of the court system. How can that benefit her? "My ex-wife and her new partner have unlimited access, but I don't. "My only contact was through my daughter's nursery and when she was moved to school, I wasn't told where she was, though it was my legal right. I had to go to court to find out which school she was at." As a member of Fathers 4 Justice, Peter was driven to take direct action and he travelled for a protest to London. Flying back to Teesside, he was stopped as a suspected terrorist by Special Branch as he walked off the plane in a purple curly wig, long purple gown and a white T-shirt bearing the slogan I Am A Dad. He was released without charge. "I'd worn it during a Fathers 4 Justice protest in London, gone all the way through Heathrow and been allowed to board a plane and fly on it," says Peter. "But at Teesside I was stopped as a terrorist. And I'm not, I'm a dad. "I've tried to do everything right. I had never ever been in trouble with the police or thought about joining a direct action group in my life. "But I am a dad who cannot be with his daughter and this is what I've been driven to by the law. "And I know I will go on and on until I can see my daughter. I will never stop fighting." He also supported campaigners who stormed Teesside Combined Court house a few weeks ago. Peter's pain and feelings of injustice are echoed by Stockton grandma, Susan who has not even been given a school photograph of her 12-year-old grandson. She and her husband are burdened with the debt of helping their son fight to have access to his child. "We are up to our eyes in debt," says Susan. "I have had to learn how to get transcripts of court proceedings and buy a computer so we can fight for our grandson. "My husband is ill with heart failure, which I am convinced was brought on by all this and we are desperate to see our grandson. "My son has a court order giving him access, but what good is that? She just goes on denying him the right to see his son and the court does nothing to make it happen. "Our grandson cannot read or write properly and we want to help with that, but we can't. It has gone on since he was three years old and we are losing hope that we will ever get to see him again. "I feel the Government has let us down again and I can't see things getting better." * Names have been changed Page 2: Mediation can ease pain of parental war | 
