Man 'missed £66,000 maintenance'

A judge has condemned the child support system after a man failed to pay maintenance for 12 years.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, amassed arrears of £66,000 in payments for his two children, Exeter County Court heard.

The parents split up in 1997 when the children were two and four-years-old.

Judge Stephen Wildblood said the case was a "screaming example of failure" of the child support system. He ordered an interim payment of £20,000 be made.

The court heard that the mother had been trying to get payment since the split from the man, who owns several businesses.

The court heard that the father initially failed to provide the correct information to the Child Support Agency and then began a series of legal challenges, complaining the agency would not negotiate with him.

Judge Wildblood told Exeter County Court that under pressure from him an interim payment of £20,000 would be made while the legal challenges were resolved.