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Court orders girl, 10, to see dying father | NEWS.com.au

A SYDNEY judge has ordered a hate-filled 10-year-old girl to visit her dying father within 28 days.

In an extraordinary Family Court judgment, the girl - who has said she wishes that her father would die - was instructed to see her father who is dying from liver cancer and has up to 12 months to live.

The girl, who is almost 11 years old, lives with her mother and has not seen her father since late 2003.

The mother has an intense hatred of the father and doubts that he is ill, despite doctors' statements that the man has inoperable cancer.

An expert told the court that if the father dies without he and the child being able to say goodbye, the child will come to regret this later in life when she has emotional independence from her mother and "has had time to reflect on the appalling way in which she was drawn into the conflict between her parents".

Justice Le Poer Trench said he had agonised over the decision but felt the child should be given an opportunity to see her father.

A court officer will supervise the once-a-month visits and determine their duration.

It was also suggested to the father that he might write a letter to the child and make her a DVD to view in the future should she want to learn more about her father in the future.

He said the mother was one of the most extraordinary people he had ever seen in his court, and that she was apparently devoid of compassion for the father.

He was concerned that the girl probably had some level of fear of her mother and said the child wanted to belong to her new family, including her mother's new husband and child.