Ireland – 2 children abducted by parents each week

September 13 , 2014

Source: Irishexaminer

At least two children a week were abducted by parents taking them in or out of Ireland last year.

Some 109 new abductions were logged with the Irish Central Authority for International Child Abduction during the year, involving 64 children taken out of Ireland and 45 brought here.

There were also 99 new applications involving access and other legal proceedings relating to children at the centre of transnational custody disputes, meaning the total number of new files received rose by 42%.

In addition, there were 138 cases on hand from previous years, meaning a total of 346 cases — the highest-ever handled by the Central Authority which is part of the Department of Justice.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald said parental child abduction was a growing problem globally. “Ireland is no different and it is important that we are proactive in working with central authorities in other states in resolving complaints regarding international parental child abductions where they arise,” said Ms Fitzgerald.

As with previous years, a large proportion (49%) of the new applications related to children taken to or from Britain and the North; while 9% involved Germany; 7% Poland; 18% other European countries; and 16% the US.

The remaining 9% involved countries further afield, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Colombia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka.

However, that may not reflect the full scale of child abduction as the Central Authority can only work to resolve cases involving countries that are signatories to the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction. Even where both parents are based in signatory countries, the large number of abduction cases carried over from previous years illustrates the difficulty in resolving them.

Ms Fitzgerald urged estranged parents not to let personal differences become transnational legal battles.

“I would encourage any family to try to resolve their differences before such situations arise and avail of the services available to mediate solutions in the best interest of the children and all those involved,” she said. “The Family Mediation Service is part of the Legal Aid Board and can help families reach agreement without having to resort to court.”

Of the 346 cases processed, 194 related to children taken out of Ireland and in 29 of those it was decided that the children should return to where they had been living.

In 14 of those cases, foreign courts ordered their return and in 15 cases, they were returned voluntarily or an alternative arrangement was agreed by the parents. A further 21 applications were withdrawn and 82 were awaiting resolution by the end of the year.

Of the 152 cases involving children abducted into this country, 74 were unresolved by the end of the year. In 23 cases, it was decided the children should return to where they were living and in 13 of those cases, the return was carried out by consent or voluntarily. A further 21 cases were withdrawn.

See www.legalaid.ie or call the Central Authority for Child Abduction on 01 4790200.

For more information, visit our web site: www.abpworld.com

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

ABP World Group™ Risk Management

Contact us here: Mail 

Skype: abpworld

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

There were 64 cases of children being abducted from Ireland last year

September 12 , 2014

Source: thejournal.ie

THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE dealt with 109 new cases of child abduction last year, 45 relating to children entering the country and 64 leaving.

The department acts as the Central Authority for International Child Abduction and its annual report says that, in total, they dealt with 208 new cases last year.

This total also includes cases of  care orders and access applications as well as international child placements.

Including ongoing cases, the authority dealt with a total of 346 cases in 2013.

The abductions related primarily to suspected parental child abductions according to Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald.

“Parental child abduction is a growing problem globally reflecting the greater mobility of people around the world and all the consequences of this,” she said today.

Ireland is no different and it is important that we are proactive in working with central authorities in other states in resolving complaints regarding international parental child abductions where they arise.

About half of the cases dealt with last year related to abductions to or from the United Kingdom.

Of the 138 ongoing cases of child abduction, 51 were incoming and 87 were outgoing.

Upon the publication of the report, Fitzgerald said that she hoped many cases could be resolved by families themselves but added that, in most cases, legal remedies are required.

“The resolution of issues around parental child abduction is usually by international law,” she said. “But I would encourage any family to try to resolve their differences before such situations arise and avail of the services available to mediate solutions in the best interest of the children and all those involved.”

Fitzgerald advised families that the Family Mediation Service in the Legal Aid Board can help families reach agreement without having to resort to court.

For more information, visit our web site: www.abpworld.com

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

ABP World Group™ Risk Management

Contact us here: Mail 

Skype: abpworld

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

Woman who abducted sons from Ireland now in road accident, passenger dead

October27, 2013

Source: zambianwatchdog.com

The true nature of a child abducting parent

Elizabeth Daka, the Zambian woman who is facing criminal charges in Ireland for allegedly abducting her Irish-born sons to Zambia has been involved in a road accident.

The accident happened near Manda Hill at 14 hours today and the passenger who was with Elizabeth died on the spot.
Elizabeth is said to have been drunk when she was driving the vehicle. She survived with only minor bruises but her friend, a ZESCO employee, had her skull opened by the crash and died instantly.
According to information received, both Elizabeth and her friend-passenger were not wearing seat belts.
‘Elizabeth was drunk and speeding and tried to make a turn but crashed into a drain,’ said a source.
Elizabeth Daka had two sons, Ethan Quarry, 6, and Troy Daka-Beary, one-year-11 months, with two different Irish men while in Ireland but decided to move back to Zambia three months ago without informing the children’s fathers.

When he came to look for his children, Richard Quarry, who is still married to Elizabeth, claimed his wife had a history of alcohol abuse, child neglect and depression, adding that she might put the children in danger.
Now Elizabeth faces a possible charge of causing dearth by dangerous driving.

 

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

Visit our website here: www.abpworld.com

ABP World Group Risk Management

Contact us here: Mail 

Skype: abpworld

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

1-800-847-2315 US Toll free Number
0-808-189-0066 UK Toll Free Number
800-11-618        Norway Toll Free Number

Worldwide International Number: +31-208112223

Worldwide 24/7 Emergency Number: +34 633 374 629

Girlfriend held hostage during tiger kidnapping sues bank

October 22, 2013

Source: Irish independent

THE ex-girlfriend of a bank official forced to hand over €7.6m during a tiger kidnapping is suing the bank for alleged negligence.

 

Stephanie Smith (24) was in a relationship with Bank of Irelandemployee Shane Travers, who on February 26, 2006, was forced, while armed, masked robbers held her and two of her family members hostage, to hand over the money taken from BoI’s premises at College Green, Dublin.

She claims she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression as a result of her ordeal.

In her action against the Governor and Company of the Bank of Ireland, Ms Smith, from Stonebridge House, Badger Hill, Kill, Co Kildare, says the bank failed to have any regard for the health and safety of its employee’s cohabitants.

It is also claimed BoI exposed her to a foreseeable security-related injury and to danger and injury, which it ought to have known. BoI failed in its duty of care to her, it is further alleged. BoI denies all the claims against it. In its defence, BoI denies it owes Ms Smith any duty of care.

Yesterday, when the matter came before High Court President Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, he directed trial of a preliminary issue before the main case.

The issue is whether, on the facts pleaded, BoI owed a duty of care to Ms Smith at common law or had a statutory duty in the terms pleaded in her personal injuries summons.

In his ruling, the judge said while what had happened to Ms Smith was “horrific”, he agreed with lawyers for the bank that what was “a novel” claim should be tried on a preliminary issue.

In her statement of claim, Ms Smith says she and her mother were approached by an armed gang of masked men outside Ms Smith’s home.

CAPTIVE

Mr Travers, who was her cohabitant at the time, and her young nephew were present in the house. All four were taken captive. Mr Travers was warned he would be kneecapped, while one of the gang threatened “to blow her head off”. She claims they were told nothing would happen to them if Mr Travers “did what he was told”. Mr Travers was eventually taken away, while Ms Smith, her mother and nephew were bundled into the back of a van.

After the gang members left the van, Ms Smith managed to free herself and the others. They were picked up in Ashbourne, Co Meath, and were taken to a garda station.

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

Visit our website here: www.abpworld.com

ABP World Group Risk Management

Contact us here: Mail 

Skype: abpworld

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

1-800-847-2315 US Toll free Number
0-808-189-0066 UK Toll Free Number
800-11-618        Norway Toll Free Number

Worldwide International Number: +31-208112223

Worldwide 24/7 Emergency Number: +34 633 374 629

The Algerian fuck-up – 35 killed in an attempt to rescue the hostages

January 17, 2013

Source: Daily Mail,

‘Al-Qaeda have got me’: Trapped oil worker’s desperate phone call to family from Algerian gas siege where ’35 hostages were killed’

• Stephen McFaul barricaded himself into room as militants raided complex
• Was on phone to family who heard gunfire in distance as line went dead
• But he managed to escape as Algerian forces launched bungled rescue
• David Cameron said Britain should be ‘prepared for the possibility of further bad news’
• Prime Minister said one British national has been confirmed dead
• Helicopters ‘began strafing’ complex, also killing 15 militants, claim rebels
• Militants had earlier threatened to blow up the hostages if they intervened
• Al-Qaeda group also demand safe passage out of facility with the hostages

An oil worker held hostage at an Algerian gas plant made a desperate ‘last phone call’ to tell his family he had been captured by al-Qaeda hours before a botched rescue attempt killed up to 35 foreigners.

Stephen McFaul, who later escaped, barricaded himself into a room with dozens of others as armed militants stormed their compound in the remote African desert.

Islamic extremists launched an attack on BP’s Saharan oil field in revenge for France’s crackdown on rebels in neighbouring Mali. Britain is providing support and so became a target.

As the terrorists closed in, the 36-year-old father made what he feared may be his final call his family to say ‘al-Qaeda have got me’, his brother revealed today.

Mr McFaul’s family today revealed that he managed to escape alive, but up to 35 others are feared dead after Algerian forces launched air strikes overhead in a bid to rescue the trapped workers.

The assault on the was made without warning Western allies including David Cameron.

Fighting back tears, Mr McFaul’s brother, Brian, said of his sibling’s frantic phone call: ‘They locked themselves in a room for safety.

‘At that stage they heard gunfire. They kept talking and he gave me a text, but then we lost contact.

‘Than at 9am that morning he phoned saying al-Qaeda have got me’.

Mr McFaul’s family have told of their joy after receiving a phone call from him at 3pm today saying he was alive and well.

His 13-year-old son, Dylan, told the BBC: ‘I can’t explain the excitement. I can’t wait until he gets home. I’m going to make sure he never goes back there.’

His father, Christopher, added: ‘The last 48 hours have been hell, but as a family we have been very strong.’

 

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443

UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013

Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

Ireland: Department handled up to 200 child abduction cases

Source: Irishtimes

INTERNATIONAL PARENTAL child abduction cases involving almost 200 children were dealt with by the Department of Justice last year.

The department’s central authority for child abduction received 142 new applications last year, some involving more than one child.

This is the highest level of new cases since the authority was established almost 20 years ago and is two more cases than 2010.

Almost two-thirds (89) of the new cases concerned children being taken from the State to other countries.

Over two-thirds of these cases involved children taken from the State to the UK; 39 to England and Wales; 12 to Scotland; and 10 to Northern Ireland.

Eastern European countries accounted for more than a tenth of outgoing cases, most of these to Poland.

Children being taken to the State from the UK accounted for half of incoming abductions while Eastern European countries accounted for almost a third.

There were also 119 ongoing cases from previous years being dealt with by the department bringing the total to 261 applications.

Half of the incoming and outgoing abduction cases being dealt with were awaiting resolution.

Most of the cases were being dealt with under the Hague Convention with some under EU laws on child abduction.

The convention facilitates the return of children taken from one state to another against the wishes of a parent with custody rights.

Minister for Justice urged parents to take all steps to resolve differences. “Parental child abduction remains a constant problem. When family conflict occurs, it is important that estranged parents and spouses exhaust all their options to resolve differences and reach agreement in the best interests of the children involved,” he said.

Also read: 198 children here targeted in abductions

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443

UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –

Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

England: Parental child abduction arrest

A man has been arrested in London on suspicion of parental child abduction.

 

A 45-year-old man was yesterday arrested in London on suspicion of parental child abduction.

The man is believed to have taken three children from the Banbridge area, on Thursday, 29 March, to Dublin airport where he was intercepted by An Garda Siochana.

The three children were taken into protective custody before the man boarded a flight to London. The man was later arrested when he re-entered the UK jurisdiction in Heathrow airport yesterday. PSNI officers accompanied him back to Northern Ireland this morning and he is currently assisting them with their enquiries.

The operation involved E District CID and Response Police as well as mutual assistance from authorities including An Garda Siochana.

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443

UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –

Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

Gardaí use phone tracking to find alleged abductor

Source: Irish Examiner

GARDAÍ used phone tracking technology to help locate a dad who allegedly abducted his three children and led gardaí on a chase before crashing into a road sign.

A massive Garda operation was put in place after the incident due to “serious concerns” for the safety of the children.

Gardaí were concerned at the man’s psychological condition — including previous comments to do himself harm — and the aggressive way he removed his children from school.

Children’s charity ISPCC yesterday praised gardaí for their reaction, pointing out that the first two hours were crucial in such situations.

The father took his three children aged 12, nine and seven, from their home in Co Wicklow, and brought them to school at 9am.

However, in what has been described as “bizarre” behaviour after this, the man:

* Drove back to the school after 10am and forcibly removed his children in a row with staff, during which he pulled out a phone line.

* He left at 10.30am and obtained a second car.

* By 10.45am, he had transferred the children to this car and drove off.

* Gardaí, who had been looking for his original vehicle, discovered he had switched cars and later tracked him to the N11.

* They pursued him on the southbound lane. At 1.05pm, he lost control of the car on the off ramp, collided with a road sign and ended up on a roundabout.

Gardaí said they had “serious concerns” due to the full circumstances of the case.

This included the concerns of teachers and the man’s aggressive behaviour at the school. Gardaí also discovered that he had made worrying comments in recent days, including that he might do himself violence.

A Garda source said: “We were hell bent on trying to find his [first vehicle], then we discover he had switched cars.”

Gardaí had been on the verge of sending out a public appeal regarding the first car and had to change that. The urgent media appeal was sent out at 12pm to locate the second.

The Garda helicopter was dispatched. Gardaí had a general idea of the possible directions the man was travelling in and set up a series of checkpoints.

They also used phone tracking technology to trace movements of his mobile phone.

“All these pulled together and we tracked him to the N11,” said a source.

The man tried to evade gardaí and took a turn off, but crashed into a road sign.

Gardaí said none of the children were injured.

The father is being detained under the Mental Treatment Act. He was being examined by psychiatrists yesterday and it is expected he will be transferred to a secure psychiatric hospital, allowing gardaí to work on a file for the DPP.

Mary Nicholson of the ISPCC said: “We absolutely commend the gardaí in responding so quickly. The first two hours in child abductions are crucial.”

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443

UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –

Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

Ireland / Malaysia – Mother’s fears over custody battle

Source: UTV News

A Co Tyrone mother whose child is trapped in an in international custody battle has told UTV she fears she will never see her son again.

Tracey McCay’s six-year-old son Sean was taken to Singapore last week by his father David.

The couple split acrimoniously while holidaying in Indonesia, but when Tracey returned to Singapore she realised the terms under which she had entered the country meant she had little or no parental rights.

See the Video here: UTV News

“I was in a foreign country. I had no friends, no family. I was really scared and I just felt I should have done my research,” she said.

“What people don’t realise is that obviously although you’re residents of a foreign country you’re not entitled to the same laws as what you’re used to back home.”

After a month battling her former partner, Tracey saw her son and she said her little boy was “confused and excited” at the same time.

“Once he saw me he just went ‘Mummy!’. He was just so excited to see me and I was so excited to see him and I just had to hold back tears,” she explained, “but it was just really nice and we just cuddled and kissed and just stuff like that, and he said ‘Mummy, I really miss you and where have you been?'”

“I’ve never been away from him for that long. I’ve always been with him and then Sean left and not knowing when I would see him again.”

Tracey began custody proceedings in Northern Ireland when she returned home and although Sean was in the region for Christmas he was taken away again by two police officers on Christmas Eve after the Lord Chief Justice ruled against Tracey because of the ongoing legal issues in Singapore.

She said it “broke [her] heart” when she had to give him back before Christmas Day.

“We kissed and we cuddled. It was just really, really nice. But when the police came I had to make it nice for Sean. I didn’t want him to be scared and when he was getting into the police car I was just saying goodbye to him and cuddling him.”

Although Sean has been taken back to Singapore by his father, Tracey said she will fight on for her rights as a mother.

“I have to go back to Singapore and fight in Singapore. And then I’ve been told by my lawyer in Singapore that I have to fight over here. So I’m left with no options at all where to fight.”

She told UTV her greatest fear is “that I’ll never see Sean again”.

The solicitor acting for Sean’s father, David McCay, issued a statement which reads:

“The Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland returned the child to our client’s care and custody on Christmas Eve.

“As arranged our client and the child returned to Singapore on the 28th December. As the parents and child reside in Singapore, all issues we understand are being dealt with there.

“Our client strongly refutes any suggestion he has acted improperly.”

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443

UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –

Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271

International Parental Child Abduction : Fathers pay price when mothers take children

Source: Irish Times – Irishtimes.com

JOHN WATERS

DESPITE ONE-THIRD of births occurring in non-marital relationships, unmarried Irish fathers remain deeply ignorant of their legal situation.

Under Irish law, such fathers have no automatic right to the day-to-day care of their children (“custody”) or to a say in the upbringing of their children (“guardianship”). What they have is the right to apply to a court, which may then extend rights of guardianship and custody according to the nature of the relationship between the child and the father, a matter almost invariably dictated by the attitude and behaviour of the gatekeeper-mother.

Although mischievous agents propose that the high numbers of Irish unmarried fathers neglecting to apply for guardianship is evidence of indifference, the fact is that many fathers, reluctant to initiate legal proceedings that might create a conflict where none exists, tend to leave well alone.

This leads to extreme difficulties when mothers abduct children to other jurisdictions and fathers find themselves bereft of legal standing.

Almost all European countries now make legal provision for the concept of the “de facto family” – which extends legal recognition in situations in which unmarried parents and their children have lived together in quasi-marital situations. This can enable an unmarried father who has no formal guardianship order to invoke the Hague Convention in the event that his child is abducted. Irish law is noticeably out of step in the recognition of such “inchoate rights”.

The man in the street may attribute this circumstance to oversight. Alas, it arises from the ideological outlook of the Irish State, which is determined to withhold from unmarried fathers anything but the most minimal recognition forced upon it by international law.

The lay person, too, might surmise that, all things being equal, the objective of the Irish State will always be to strive towards just and equitable resolutions, subject only to whatever legal impediments may arise.

Alas, in abduction situations where the abductor is the mother, such an assumption would be mistaken.

In fact, the pattern of behaviour by the Irish central authority in these matters – ie the Department of Justice – is to turn its back on fathers whose children have been abducted, even when the destination country is reluctant to accept jurisdiction.

This policy became clear over the past 18 months, in a case arising from the refusal of a mother to bring her two children back to Ireland after a summer holiday in New York. For six years the father had lived in Ireland with his children, in virtually every respect as though married to the mother. In August 2010, the mother told him she and their two children would remain in New York, where she was moving in with a man she had met on Facebook.

The children had been born in New York, which meant that the father was their legal guardian under US law. He had the right to apply to a New York court, but felt that to do so would be to acquiesce in what had happened.

He wished to have the matter adjudicated in Ireland, where his children had lived almost all their lives. He approached the Department of Justice but was told that, since he did not have guardianship here, there was no legal recourse under the Hague Convention.

Proceedings were initiated in New York by the mother, while the father began seeking guardianship under Irish law. In November 2010, he was granted a guardianship order. Because this application was initiated within a statutory six-month period stipulated by New York law – in effect confirming the children were for legal purposes still habitually resident in Ireland – and since the father continued to reside here, the New York court ruled that the case should be determined by the Irish courts.

All that was required was for an Irish court to issue a temporary custody order in favour of the father, and the New York court could have ordered the return of the children here.

The next step was to persuade the Irish court to do the decent thing. Three hearings, in August, October and November 2011, were adjourned in turn because the judge was away. Although it was implicit in the New York decision that, by issuing a guardianship order, the Irish court had already accepted jurisdiction, the Irish judge refused to communicate with his counterpart in New York.

Instead, in the end, he wrote to the New York court handing over jurisdiction, unwittingly confirming that, contrary to the assertions of the Department of Justice, the Irish court already had jurisdiction. Thus, in December, this Irish father was forced to surrender to the jurisdiction of an American court.

These Irish proceedings, involving 12 court appearances and nine different judges over 15 months, cost this father more than €20,000.

For years I have been meeting men like this, trying to help them deal with the inscrutable processes that “legal advice” forbids me from describing in the only terms I can adequately and reasonably describe them.

I observe with dismay that things are growing worse, not just in the treatment of such men and their children, but even more ominously in the studied avoidance of these matters by other journalists who make much of calling authority to account except here, where the sleep of justice is more implacable than anywhere else.

Follow our updates on Twitter and Facebook

One key to ABP World Group`s successful recovery and re-unification of your loved one is to use all necessary means available

Contact us here: Mail

Join the Facebook Group: International Parental Child Abduction

NOTE: We are always available 24/7

U.S Phone Number: (646) 502-7443

UK Phone Number: 020 3239 0013 –

Or you can call our 24h Emergency phone number: +47 45504271