A court has ordered that a nine-year-old girl who was abducted by her father should be returned to her mother.
The case involved a Polish mother and British father who had separated after a long relationship.
Following a dispute over where their daughter should live, the English court stated that the child had become habitually resident in Poland and that she should remain there in her mother’s custody.
An order was made preventing the father from removing her from her mother’s care.
However, the father took the child for a holiday to Algeria and refused to return her, leaving the Polish court to conclude that she had been abducted.
The mother asked the English court to use its jurisdiction to enforce its order and have the daughter returned to her in Poland.
The High Court found in the mother’s favour and held that the father had little understanding of his daughter’s needs. His evidence was weak and it was obvious that he was in breach of the orders of both the Polish and English courts. In light of the father’s actions, the child was in particular need of the court’s protection.
The court ordered that she should be returned to her mother in Poland.
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Case featured:
Court orders that abducted girl should be returned to her mother
[2016] EWHC 1607 (Fam)
JB v D (2016)
Fam Div (Hayden J) 28/06/2016