Judge grants boy’s wish to stay in Scotland

The 11-year-old and his sister, five, were removed from Spain by their mother after she and her partner separated.

The father wanted the children to be returned until a final decision on custody had been made by the Spanish courts. However, the boy’s plea to stay was heeded by Lord Glennie at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

And, because it would have been wrong to split the children, the judge also allowed the sister to stay.

The couple lived together for several years in Spain. She is a Scot and he is Spanish.

The relationship ran into difficulties earlier this year, and negotiations began towards an amicable split. The intention had been that the mother would return to Scotland with the children, who would spend holidays with their father in Spain.

But in June, before a final agreement had been reached, the couple had an argument, and the mother took the children to Scotland.

Custody proceedings were pending in Spain, and the father asked Lord Glennie to order the children’s return.

The judge said there had been a “wrongful removal” of the children by their mother under the Hague Convention on Child Abduction, and normally an order would be granted.

However, an order could be refused if an exception to the convention’s provisions applied, such as if the child objected, which he did during an interview with a child psychologist.

Lawyers for the father claimed the psychologist had underestimated the extent to which the boy’s views had been influenced by his mother and others.

Lord Glennie said: “In some respects, [the psychologist] accepts that his views were so influenced. But her overall conclusion is that the views are very much his own and are firmly held.”