Young mum faces abduction charges after tug-of-love
0 Comments | Northern Echo, Apr 26, 2010 | by Chris Fay
A WOMAN from the NorthEast who fled Spain with her daughter to escape her abusive husband is facing child abduction allegations.
The 29-year-old received papers last week giving her days to return and face the charges brought by her estranged Spanish husband.
The mother-of-one insists she did everything correctly and received his permission to take their daughter, who has dual citizenship.
However, he has since begun criminal proceedings in Spain which, if enforced in the UK, could see her daughter removed.
Speaking from her parents’ home in south-west Durham, she said: “It’s been an absolute nightmare.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I can’t afford the flight back to Spain, never mind the cost of the legal fees.”
The woman moved to Spain ten years ago and met her husband in 2006. They married the following year.
“Before I got married he was wonderful, then everything just changed and he began to get violent towards me and even towards our daughter, ” she said.
“He was so controlling, it was emotional as well as physical abuse.
“If I tried to leave he would drag me back up the stairs, but with everyone else he was just wonderful.”
Things escalated, she said, after she found child pornography and emails on her husband’s computer indicating liaisons with prostitutes.
She persuaded him to sign papers, drawn up by Spanish solicitors, which she believed granted her permission to take their daughter to the UK.
The move is understood to have been sanctioned by the UK courts, which granted her custody.
The documents, which prohibit identifying any of the parties involved, have been seen by The Northern Echo.
But the Spaniard continued to harass his wife, by telephone, before he flew into the North-East unannounced.
He was stopped by immigration officers at Durham Tees Valley Airport, on October 8, carrying child’s toys and nappies. A police spokesman said: “He was arrested on suspicion of child abduction and taken to Bishop Auckland police station.”
In the end, no further police action was taken and he was allowed to fly home a few days later.
He then turned to the Spanish courts to try to regain custody of his daughter, leaving his wife trying to make sense of two judicial systems.
She said: “It’s not about our daughter any more, it’s about hurting me and I’m terrified about what would happen if he got custody.”
The woman is appealing for help to raise money for legal fees, or from anyone who has relevant legal expertise.
Contact her via The Northern Echo on 01388-602232.