A CRIMINAL from Bolton serving a life sentence in prison has lost an appeal to have his children's school grades sent to him. 

The parent, who was jailed for a string of crimes against his ex-partner, claimed keeping tracks on the grades was his only way of "remaining involved in their lives".

Mr Justice MacDonald told Liverpool Family Court how the prisoner, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his three children, had conducted a violent campaign against his ex-partner.

She claimed she was the victim of "extensive domestic violence at his hands during the course of their relationship", the judge added, and he was also convicted of breaching a non-molestation order.

The prisoner argued that he should be allowed to receive an annual report from their schools, sketching out the "raw data" of their academic grades.

But his ex fiercely resisted the move, saying any involvement by the father would imperil the children's safety.

The mother's legal team said he had in the past shown "cruel inventiveness to utilise his parental responsibility to the detriment of the children".

Mr Justice MacDonald said he was reluctant to sever the father's last vestiges of parental rights, particularly since his request for the information was "on the face of it very modest".

But the judge said that this would bring no "welfare benefit" to his offspring and refused the father's application.

The father was banned from having any form of contact with the children, either direct or indirect.