The High Court was faced with a summary return order (SRO) for a
child to a country which is not signatory of the 1980 Hague
Convention.
Background:
The father is a British National and the mother is a Chinese
National who met about 15 years ago in China and were married in
2020. Their daughter was born in 2022. After she was born the
relationship between the parties became strained. The father
changed jobs and the family moved away from the major city where
they had been living. The mother remained in her previous job which
meant she faced a very lengthy commute.
In 2024, the father became suspicious that the mother was having
an affair and when the mother was working, he removed the daughter
clandestinely and flew with her back to England. The car rental
company tracked the car to the airport and the mother discovered
what had happened.
