Grandfather on hunger strike - Fathers 4 Justice discourage idea but will support him.

From the BBC Grandfather begins protest fast

A Bristol member of the campaign group Fathers 4 Justice says he will be on hunger strike until he can see his young granddaughter.
Chris Hawkins, 63, a retired lecturer, said he and his son had been denied access for more than four years since the break-up of his son's marriage.

Mr Hawkins wants his action to draw attention to what he says are the failings of the Family Court system.

He said he had started the fast on Saturday out of "sheer desperation".

Protest march

"I have given up taking legal action. It is a waste of time going through the courts," he said.

Mr Hawkins plans to take part in a march being organised nationally by Fathers 4 Justice on 18 June to mark Fathers' Day.

The pressure group was behind a recent incident when purple flour was hurled at the Prime Minister Tony Blair in the House of Commons.

Members dressed as superheroes were also involved in a protest which led to the closure of Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol for several hours in February.

Also from the Bristol Evening Post

Since his son's marriage ended in 1998, Mr Hawkins said he had tried to maintain contact with his granddaughter.

He said: "Around 25 per cent of all marriages and relationships will eventually break down.In the case of five million of these relationships, children will be left

in the middle and will lose one of their parents, usually their father. There are 6,000 Fathers4Justice members in the country and we hope to have a group in every city so we can put as much pressure as we can on family courts."

Gary Burch, parliamentary co-ordinator for Fathers4Justice, said: "Chris Hawkins has made this decision and we will support him in whatever he thinks is right. He feels let down by the courts and the children's minister. Nobody wants to see Chris put himself at risk. We would love for there to be circumstances brought about which would give him no need to protest." And Mr Hawkins told a press conference today: "The decision to do the hunger strike is entirely mine. I was saddened by the death of a man who campaigned for the group but never saw his children. Since then two active grandparents of the organisation have died as a result of the stress of the living bereavement which is what we have to endure in this situation, and this spurs me on. In fact Matt O'Connor and other leading members of F 4 J tried to talk me out of doing this hunger strike but I feel rather than let the stress of not seeing my granddaughter kill me like it has other people I am prepared to risk my health in highlighting my own predicament."