children but have no faith in social services as they have done nothing in the past to protect him, my children are constantly crying that they don't want to go to their mums and tell me they want to stay with daddy, they have started making themselves sick by putting their fingers down their throat, wetting the bed, biting and lashing out, i really cant bare the thought of going back through the courts as i just feel it let me down the last time, their mother was constantly inconsistent with contact with the children, she refused to cooperate with social services and family support and yet i was told repeatedly that as she was the mother she had to be given many chances and no matter what she did it didn't matter, i cooperated throughout the whole process went to all the meetings took many parenting classes, suffered violent attacks by my ex partner, and yet my children are still suffering. What should i do? A. Hi there I am so sorry that you are in this situation. I have no hesitation is advising that as you are aware, protecting the children is your priority. If you believe that they are at risk of harm and that harm continues, it would not be unreasonable for you to retain the children and return to court immediately for an order that they remain in your care until this is investigated further. Perhaps expert evidence will be required. However, the priority must