On October 13, residents of a quiet cul de sac in South Twickenham were startled to have their evening interrupted by the sound of screaming from the street. A black Ford Fiesta attempting to navigate its way down the lane was forced to a crawling pace by a yelling woman, slapping her hands against the bonnet. Upon closer inspection, residents saw a child in the back seat of the car, and may have realised that the woman, thought to be in her mid-twenties, was the mother, and the driver the father. An argument over custody, thought the residents. Nothing too severe.
     Five minutes later, they looked outside again to see not one, but four police cars arrive. It seemed the mother had taken a far more serious stance on the situation. According to one eyewitness, she had recorded an earlier section of the altercation, which she was later seen showing to one of the police officers. 
     “It was mad,” one resident said. “He [the father] actually tried to run her over [the mother].” Whether the incident could be counted as a ‘running over’ is unclear, as the pedestrian was seemingly not caused serious bodily harm by the driver, although she was seen limping. It is also unclear whether the mother or father should be blamed for the collision, as it appeared the mother was barring the way of the car. However, past cases suggest that the driver will bear the brunt of the blame.
     Another resident was more shocked by the argument on which the incident was founded, rather than the remarkably low speed collision, saying  ‘the child must come first’, and it was ‘unfair to let the argument come before his [the child’s] wellbeing’. Such arguments over custody can be expected to be less frequent than in the past ten years, with the number of single parent households decreasing by 9.8% since 2009. Furthermore, such an argument is a rare occurrence in the area, suggesting that it is not likely to be repeated. However, it seems there is still much room for improvement in how disputing parents handle their grievances.