Heartache over missing name on birth certificate

Jul 24 2011 by Coreena Ford, Sunday Sun

BRAVE teen mum Toni Jordan is being forced to cough up the cash to officially acknowledge her baby’s tragic dad, the Sunday Sun can reveal.

Toni’s life was shattered when her childhood sweetheart Andrew Davies, 24, was killed in a horror smash just four weeks after the birth of their baby boy Kallum.

Andrew and his brother Nicholas, 20, of Monkseaton, North Tyneside, had been passengers in a car driven by pal Tyro Jackson when it careered off a country road and into a ravine, ploughing straight into a tree on July 9 2009.

Jackson was later jailed for causing their deaths, and had six months knocked off his two-and-a-half year sentence on appeal last October.

The Whitley Bay mum’s agony was compounded weeks after Andrew’s death when she was told she could not put his name on Kallum’s birth certificate as his father, because both parents must be present to sign the document.

Determined to see his name in black and white on the form, giving Andrew the recognition he deserves, she sought advice from solicitors – but she has been left enraged after being refused Legal Aid.

She will now have to fork out £800 to put her case to a judge in court – and even then there is no guarantee she will succeed.

Last night, the former Monkseaton High School pupil blasted: “I’m so angry that I can’t get Legal Aid – murderers and rapists can get it so why can’t I?

“I was told that there are enough people in Kallum’s life to tell him about his father so that doesn’t justify taking his case to court to try and get his name on the birth certificate.