A Bradford man embroiled in a bitter Court battle with his former wife over their daughter's surname has spoken for the first time of his heartbreak.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, took his former partner to county court when she named their daughter after her new boyfriend.

But now the man says that he would not have started the court proceedings, which have cost taxpayers thousands of pounds as both parties were granted legal aid, if he had known how much pain and misery the dispute would cause.

The man, speaking exclusively to the T&A, said: "This court ordeal has been a long and harrowing one.

"If I knew at the start of the proceedings what I would have to go through I would have thought twice about it.

"This whole thing has been going on for 16-months, ever since my daughter was born. I'm absolutely sick of going to court and I just want my daughter to have my name."

The girl's mother said in court that if the child had her father's name it would be a constant reminder of the violence she suffered during their relationship.

But now her former husband says he has undergone treatment for his violent temper. He said: "There is absolutely no excuse for the violence and I am thoroughly ashamed of what I did and how much I hurt my wife.

"I've been going on a anger therapy course for ten weeks and it's the best thing I've ever done. It teaches you ways to control your anger and identify the signs.''

The father first took his former wife to Bradford County Court in December last year. But in a dramatic twist last week two Law Lord judges sitting at the Civil Appeal Court in London ruled that the judge's decision to make the girl bear her father's name was wrong.

They then ruled that the case should be re-tried if the parents could not come to a compromise over the girl's surname describing the case and the thousands of pounds of public money spent on it from legal aid funds as "highly regrettable."

The mother has said she is prepared give the girl her maiden name but her former husband has refused to accept the compromise.

e-mail: ian.midgley@

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