Question Author
I did not explain this as good as I thought I did. When he split up with his wife he moved out and started seeing someone else, he had a baby with this girl, not the ex-wife.
He wont get legal aid apparently because he has " assets " and they are his house and until it sells he will have to fund any lawyers etc out of his own pocket that he can't do.
The ex-girlfriend is just a waste of space, she is stopping him from seeing his son because she doesn't like it.