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 an English father and a Polish mother who had separated after a long relationship.

Following a dispute over their daughter’s residence, the English court declared that the child had become habitually resident in Poland and that she should remain there in her mother’s custody.

An order was made that the father should not remove her from her mother’s care.

However, the father then took the child for a holiday to Algeria and refused to return her. The Polish court found that she had been abducted.

The mother asked the English court to use its jurisdiction to enforce its order and have the daughter returned.

The High Court found in her favour. It held that the father had little insight into his daughter’s needs. His evidence was unconvincing. It was plain that he was in breach of orders of the Polish and English courts. In light of the father’s actions, the child was in particular need of the court’s protection.

It ordered that she should be returned to her mother in Poland.

Please contact us if you would like more information about the issues raised in this article or any aspect of family law. We advise clients in relation to divorce and family issues from our offices in Bridgend and Cardiff. Contact us at family@berrysmith.com or 01656 645525 for further details.