Tug-of-love family admits defeat as Guillaume Ritchie handed over to French mother

A SCOTTISH boy who protested against being forced to leave Scotland will today be handed over to his French mother.

Guillaume Ritchie will be formally passed into the custody of his mother Marylyn Muzika at a hotel in Fort William, four months after he last saw her.

The ten-year-old is being returned to France after a long court battle between his parents, who separated six years ago. He has marched through his home town with a banner demanding to stay with his father.

Guillaume's aunt, Kriss Suzanne Ritchie, who has been leading an internet campaign to keep the boy in Scotland, said: "We have no choice but to give him back. It breaks our hearts."

Guillaume had been due to go home after spending the Christmas holidays with his father, Vincent Ritchie. However, he refused to board the plane back, claiming he was being abused by a French relative.

Ms Muzika then took her former husband to court under an international convention designed to prevent child abductions. The Court of Session last week ordered that the boy should be returned, saying any disputes over his custody ought to be heard in a French court.

The Ritchies, however, fear they will not have the financial power to take Ms Muzika, who got legal aid for her Scottish action, to court in France. But Guillaume, under French law, should be able to decide for himself where he wants to live.

His family in Scotland intend to continue their internet campaign – they have made a film for YouTube and have their own Facebook page – in France.

Ms Ritchie said: "We plan to get a report from an eminent psychologist, who says Guillaume should not be domiciled in France, translated into French." Family law experts have stressed that it would be highly unusual for a Scottish court to refuse to return a child to a country that has signed the Hague convention against child abduction.

The Court of Session routinely returns between 10 and 20 children to foreign jurisdictions. It has only ever refused to return a single child to France, where welfare rules are considered to be as good – or better – than in Scotland.

Ms Ritchie, who has two children of her own, yesterday said her family did not regard Guillaume, who was born in England, as being French. "We have no faith in the French courts, which have known for 18 months about allegations of abuse against Guillaume and done nothing," she said.

Mr Ritchie, a 47-year-old college instructor, yesterday said: "I am devastated by the court ruling. I feel I'm fighting the very people who should be here to protect my son."

The Scottish family now fears it will no longer be allowed to keep Guillaume – and a younger brother who is in France – for the holidays.

The Ritchies had secured support from Guillaume's teacher at a Fort William primary school, who confirmed the boy was scared to go back to France.

The Scotsman tried to contact Ms Muzika, an English teacher who lives near the Belgian border, by telephone. She did not take the call. She is expected to fly Guillame back to France tomorrow.