He asked what he could do.

I told him he could answer investigators’ questions honestly, stop contacting me outside agreed channels, and pay the support Owen was entitled to without attaching conditions to it.

If he hoped for a relationship with his child, he would have to learn patience and respect.

He could not buy a shortcut.

‘Will you ever forgive me?’ he asked.

‘I don’t know.

That’s not a task you can assign me.’