E-mails haunt mother after kidnap ordeal

Robert Cameron abducted nine-year-old Sasha during an access visit in France in July 1999 and managed to evade police for two years until he was tracked down in South-east Asia.

In October, Indonesian immigration officials successfully rescued Sasha from her father’s luxury yacht in Makassar on the island of Sulawesi, and reunited her with her mother, Fiona Cameron.

Wanted in France and the UK, Robert Cameron is still on the run. But in a move that worries Sasha’s mother and family friends, he has started sending e-mails to the girl, now aged 11.

Police are so worried he might be grooming her for another kidnap attempt that they have advised her 41-year-old mother to improve security at her Easter Ross home and develop a routine for checking her car.

Fiona Cameron said she knew Sasha had been receiving e-mails from her father but said she had not read them herself because it would be an invasion of her daughter’s privacy.

She had been looking forward to the first New Year with Sasha after the horrors of the kidnap ordeal but is now worried that her daughter, whom she fought tirelessly to trace, could be taken again. She said: "I think he probably won’t stop trying to abduct her. He seems to have that kind of personality."

In an effort to stop an abduction, Fiona has bought Sasha a mobile phone so she can stay in touch with her at all times.

The father’s e-mails have had a detrimental effect on his other daughter Rachael, now 13, who feels snubbed by him because he has not written to her. "Rachael has sent about eight e-mails to her dad but he hasn’t replied once," her mother said.

Lorraine Mann, a family friend who has acted as spokeswoman for the Cameron family throughout the two-year ordeal, said: "He is extremely plausible and very intelligent. I wouldn’t put it past him if he was to try to abduct Sasha again. He has shown that he is very determined and capable of anything.

"I know that Fiona is very concerned about the possibility of Robert trying to take Sasha away again. There is no telling the lengths that he would be willing to go to."

Sasha and her elder sister Rachael were the subjects of a long custody battle between Cameron and his wife between 1995 and 1997.

In July 1999 they travelled to France to see their father on an access visit. Rachael was sent back but Cameron said he would not give back his younger daughter and promptly vanished with Sasha and his lover Jenni Carter. It later turned out he had already sold his home at St Ciers, in the Charente district of south-west France, where they had been living.

Highland Council’s children’s panel issued a statement after Sasha failed to attend because of her abduction. The hearing was to decide on the child’s future.

The statement said: "The panel hearing came to the conclusion that this child is in danger. The callous and premeditated manner of her abduction gives rise to acute concern about Mr Cameron’s state of mind. It is clear that he does not have Sasha’s best interests at heart."

In March 2000, the French courts found Cameron guilty in his absence of kidnapping Sasha and sentenced him to one year in jail. Four months later a warrant was issued for his arrest in Scotland under the Children Scotland Act.

Despite the concern surrounding the actions of the father and his new contact with his daughter, Scottish police are powerless to act until they have proof that he is in the UK.

Mann added: "There is a warrant for his arrest in France and he is wanted in the UK. But there is nothing that can be done. I think that, unless he gives himself up to the police, he will continue to be on the run."

FAMILY AT WAR

1990s: Divorce and custody proceedings are raised in French courts. Custody is granted to Fiona, with Cameron given access.

1997: Highland Children’s Panel ratifies the custody and access decisions, but says there is no need for Cameron and Carter to come to Scotland to collect the children.

July 1999: Rachael and Sasha fly to France, but Cameron writes to Children’s Panel saying he is not sending Sasha back.

Rachael is sent home, and Cameron, Carter and Sasha vanish.

March 2000: French courts find Cameron guilty in his absence of kidnapping Sasha.

July 2000: Warrants issued for Cameron’s arrest under Children Scotland Act.

October 2001: Immigration officials pick up Cameron, Carter and Sasha and Fiona flies out for reunion with daughter.