The High Court has ordered a four-year-old girl to return to England after finding that her mother wrongfully removed and retained her there, in breach of the father’s custody rights. The order followed a Hague Convention application by the father; the court did not decide future custody or access arrangements, which it said should be addressed by the English courts.
The mother accepted that the Convention’s requirements for a wrongful removal were met, but opposed return on two grounds: that it would expose the child to grave risk of harm, and that the child objected to returning. The judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Nuala Jackson on 11 January 2024, rejected both defences.
The judge found that the mother had not proved grave risk on the balance of probabilities. She noted the history of allegations of physical and sexual abuse, which the father denied, and considered reports and investigations by English courts and professionals. The judgment said independent assessments had not substantiated the allegations and that protective measures were available through the English courts. The judge stressed that the return proceedings were not a full hearing on the child’s welfare or the truth of every disputed allegation.
An independent assessor had interviewed the child, then aged four years and five months. The girl said she wanted to stay in Ireland because she would miss her mother. The judge found that this showed attachment to her primary carer rather than an objection to returning to England, and that the child lacked the age and maturity for her views to be taken into account under the Convention.
The court directed that the child return to England no later than four weeks after judgment, allowing time for the mother to arrange accommodation. The judge sought an undertaking from the father that any access after the return would be supervised pending review by the English court. If the mother did not return to England, the undertaking requirement would be vacated and the father could bring the child back. If he did so, he would have to undertake to list the matter before the appropriate English court at the earliest opportunity. Pending return, contact was to continue under the arrangement already ordered by the High Court.