Battle for the return of a child to the UK

A battle between a British mother and a Jamaican father over a seven-year-old boy is playing out in a South African court.

On Friday the Pretoria High Court heard an urgent bid by the boy’s father, 62, to have him returned to the United Kingdom (UK) after his ex-girlfriend, 39, kidnapped him and fled to South Africa.

The case was postponed to next month ensure that should the mother and son return to their home country, England, the mother will not be arrested for child abduction. It was also postponed to ensure that any order the court makes will also apply in the UK.

The mother has claimed that she fled to avoid her son being taken away from her and placed in foster care following an investigation by a court-appointed guardian.

The investigation came after the boy’s Jamaican-born father, who lives in Wales, went to court for contact rights to his son. The mother has opposed the application.

In a report submitted to court, the guardian recommended that the boy be placed in foster care after finding that he “is not currently having his needs met” while in his mother’s care. She added that the boy’s father was “not currently a suitable option” as the child’s primary caregiver.

The guardian initially recommended that the boy be placed with his maternal grandmother, but later changed her mind, recommending he be placed in foster care instead. The lawyer acting for the Cornwall Council, a local authority in England and Wales, agreed.

In the belief that she would lose her son, the mother fled with him on the eve of the final court proceedings in December. She said she was “desperate” to protect her son.

Since then, the boy’s father and the Cornwall Council have been fighting to get him back to the UK.

The guardian’s report found that the mother had isolated the boy from friends and family and had removed him from school.

The guardian was also concerned that the mother had brought abusive men into their home.

But his mother claims that her child is “happy and thriving” and that he no longer attended school as was “desperately unhappy” and cried at night when he used to attend.

The mother also accused the father of not caring for his son’s well-being.

“[The father] has never cared about the maintenance and support of the child and ... is willing to send the child to a foster home, denying him family bond and love, just to satisfy his bruised ego,” she said in court papers.

But the father claims that he is being denied his rights to his child, adding that it was important for his son to have contact with his father, especially considering his “tender age”.

On Friday, lawyers representing the child, the mother and the father agreed that the boy and his mother should return to England, but that the mother should not be arrested.

They will not return until that undertaking is made, together with the confirmation that the SA order will be effective in the UK.

Professor Ann Skelton, director for the Centre for Child Law, who is acting for the boy, recommended that the child return to England to live with his maternal grandmother until the court proceedings are finalised.

The boy’s older sister also lives with the grandmother.

The centre believes that being back in England will give the child a sense of “familiarity” and of “being loved and belonging”.

For now, the boy will continue to go to school in Limpopo, where he is staying with his mother.