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You are here: BAILII >> Databases >> England and Wales High Court (Family Division) Decisions >> Z, Re (A Child) (Inherent Jurisdiction: Stranding: Significant Harm) [2025] EWHC 281 (Fam) (03 February 2025) URL: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Fam/2025/281.html Cite as: [2025] EWHC 281 (Fam) |
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FAMILY DIVISION
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL |
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B e f o r e :
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| Re: Z (A Child) (Inherent Jurisdiction: Stranding: Significant Harm) |
____________________
Lubeya
Ramadhan (instructed by Dawson Cornwell LLP) for the Applicant
The First Respondent had a Litigation Friend but was Unrepresented
Michael Edwards (instructed by Cafcass Legal) for the Second Respondent
Hearing dates: 16-20 December 2024
____________________
Crown Copyright ©
Ms Justice Henke :
Introduction
Chronology of these Proceedings
a. whether the mother agreed for Z to be brought up in England and apart from her or whether her agreement was conditional on being able to live in England with her;
b. whether her mother mistreated Z in the manner alleged by the father;
c. whether the father and his family have mistreated Z in the manner alleged by the mother;
d. whether the father has mistreated the mother in the manner alleged by her; and
e. whether the mother has mistreated the father in the manner alleged by him.
a. how she came to be in possession of the video MB7;
b. where and how the video was stored on her mobile phone;
c. if she sent the video to anyone else and if so when;
d. what has happened the mobile phone in question; and
e. any other relevant information relating to the phone and/or the video MB7.
a. mild memory disturbance;
b. urinary incontinence;
c. type 2 diabetes;
d. hypertension; and
e. chronic kidney disease stage 3 (2019).
The court again made directions for the assessment of the father's cognitive functioning and his litigation capacity. Given the father's presentation on the link was supine and apparently dissociated, I also made a direction for the assessment of his competency to give evidence.
a. the assessment of D by Communicourt, both to inform the timetable for the fact-finding hearing and to set out assessment of D's competency as a witness;
b. whether D was competent/ had capacity at the time that the witness statements provided in these proceedings were drafted and the need for witness statements from NP to address this issue and the manner and/or mechanism by which D was able to provide the statements he had to this court;
c. the nature and relevance of the digital files retrieved from D's mobile phone, which are included in the list in the children guardian's position statement; and
d. a witness template.
The Findings I am asked to make
1. The father forcibly separated the mother and child by deception and stranding in Pakistan
a) The respondent told the mother that he would apply for her visa once Z is in England but he did not do so and permanently separated the mother from Z.
b) After a call on 26 January 2023 the respondent blocked the mother from having any contact with Z.
2. Controlling and coercive behaviour :
a) The respondent hit the mother on some occasions and also threatened to kill her on one occasion.
b) The Respondent left Z and the mother destitute and falsely alleged that she had colluded in a burglary.
3. Allegations that the mother has exposed
a) The respondent and his children have falsely alleged that the mother has been sexually grooming Z and have engaged her in sex work when she was 7 or 8 years old.
4. Alienation of the child from the mother Since January 2023 the respondent and his children have been alienating Z from the mother. They have also been exposing her to a narrative that the mother has been abusive to her and asked her to make indecent videos/images.
5. The Respondent and his children have been physically and emotionally abusive to Z.
1. The Applicant has been physically abusive towards the Father. In January 2020, the Mother was part of a preplanned attack to rob the Father of approximately £2000. The Father was robbed beaten and held hostage for approximately The Mother fled the home and abandoned the Father. She has since evaded police detection and police bail and is wanted by the police. The Mother has an outstanding warrant in her name. Should she get caught, the Mother claims to have no other family, therefore the father is concerned for Z if she is to return to her.
2. The Applicant has been physically and emotionally abusive to Z
a) Applicant would on several occasions physically abuse Z such as hit a plate on her head and then fail to treat her medically.
b) The Mother has groomed the child into making dancing videos and uploading them on tik tok in exchange for money.
c) The Mother allowed the child to dance in front of men named J and M in Pakistan who were under the influence of intoxicants like alcohol and drugs.
d) In January 2023, the Applicant asked Z to send her images/video of her private area and to then delete them from the phone once sent to the Mother. The Mother has been sexually exploiting the child
e) Ongoing -the Applicant has spoken negatively of the paternal family and the child's half siblings. She has denigrated the Father and his family to her causing her emotional harm
3. The Mother has been emotionally abusive to the child through indirect contact on 16th and 19th April 2023 The Mother inappropriately questioned the child on the allegations made in the Father's statement and questioned why the child is lying. The Mother denigrated the paternal family and shouts at the child
4. Breach of Undertaking On the 1st and 4th of May 2023, the Mother uploaded images of the child on Tiktok in breach of the undertaking given on 20.4.23. The applicant secretly obtains images when having indirect contact with the child (most recently she has Zs image on WhatsApp display May 23)
The Evidence
The Mother
The Father
44. The Father is the subject of an uncontested report that I have before me from his GP. That report is dated 1 December 2023. It tells me that there have been concerns on recent assessment regarding his mental health and mental capacity. This has been declining over the past year so. His family report that he is having episodes of confusion, blank unresponsive episodes and also mood swings, He can start shouting for no reason, is having possible hallucinations and neglecting his personal hygiene unless prompted. He needs help to take his medication and self-care. When assessed by my colleague during a consultation recently, he did not seem aware of where he was. We suspect dementia and he has been referred to the memory assessment service […] Due to the onset of this cognitive decline, I do not feel he has the ability or mental capacity to make sensible informed decisions for himself.
50. We realised that we were dealing with a complex situation. We did not want to question Z directly about this and this was a very sensitive situation. Z had by this time realised that we had seen the video. When my daughter asked her why she made this video, Z told me that her Mother had been requesting such kind of material and she was told by her Mother that no one was ever to be made aware. I was so shocked and mortified and felt sick.
51. Z told me that 'mama said send me pictures of your vagina because you have a burning sensation.' What was impossible for me to comprehend was how on earth can any human being confirm a burning sensation through a picture or video.
. 60. Z disclosed to me that her Mother taught her how to make and delete videos from a phone whilst she was still in Pakistan. I believe that she groomed Z at an earlier age by making dancing videos to upload on tik tok by herself and other males Z has claimed that her mother would collect money from unknown men to Z for such videos whilst in Pakistan. Naturally this made me want to protect my daughter and stop such communication where I felt my daughter was being exploited by her mother.
SA
[…] I said to her ' Z you are not in trouble, and no one will ask or say anything to you. I promise all this will remain between you, me and dad, I just want you to be honest and tell me the truth. What we saw on abbas (dads) phone is very serious, and you need to tell me why you did what you did and why you deleted it?'
14. The conversation between me and Z was calm, I reassured her plenty and told her it would remain a secret. She still remained quiet and continued to listen to me. I asked again if she understood everything I was asking from her and she again nodded in agreement. Z then replied, 'aapi I will tell you but please don't tell anyone as I feel bad'. I told her not to feel bad and just to be honest. I wanted her to not feel embarrassed and to be at ease with me.
15. Z admitted to making the video. She said, 'Aapi, at one stage I told my mom that I didn't have a good day today because I had some burning sensation when I went to the toilet. My mom told me it's ok darling, just make me a video of your private parts while dancing and send it to me I will tell your dad'. I thought I was going to pass out hearing this claim by Z.
16. I repeated, 'Z you can't tell lies, please be honest and tell the truth. Did you really make this video because your mom said or did you make it on your own accord?' she replied ' no aapi, I only make them upon mamas say so'. I questioned, 'Z what do you mean by them? Have you made other videos of a similar nature?'
17. Z went quiet, took a long pause, and said, 'I have made others before, but I used to delete them from the chat on WhatsApp, the gallery, and the trash bin after sending them to Mama'. I did question Z if she ever felt uncomfortable making such videos Z replied 'No aapi, because she's my mama'.
According to SA's statement she then told the father everything because Z could not bring herself to do so.
a. when ladies from the neighbourhood would come to the house to dance with A to entertain men who were under the influence of drugs and alcohol;
b. another time, she told me that men would touch her, and she did not like it. This touching was not of a sexual nature according to Z. She disliked all forms of touch by men who would visit their home in Pakistan; and
c. her mother taught her how to make and delete videos from a phone whilst she was still in Pakistan. Z has claimed that her mother would collect money from unknown men to Z for such videos whilst in Pakistan.
26. Between 27th -29th June 2023, the court issued an order to extract Z's video from my phone. Due to Eid celebration, I was away that weekend and I returned from Manchester on Monday 3rd July with my children. The following day I travelled to London as it was the earliest possible time to comply with court order
27. On the 4th July, 2023. I attended Dawson Cornwall office. An IT personnel extracted the video from my phone securely.
28. Late September / Early October 2023, Date, time and place unknown I misplaced / lost my phone.
29. This second-hand phone, purchased by my husband, was water damaged previously and had technical issues, I did not contact the police as I was unsure where to direct them to find the phone. Thus, I did not obtain a crime reference number. Furthermore, there was no insurance claim to be made.
30. This faulty phone, if found by anyone, will be of no use to them as it had face id and a passcode to unlock. Even the IT person at Dawson Cornwall, was only able to access the video after I unlocked the phone.
31. Due to the sensitive material saved on the lost phone in question, I believe no one viewed Z's video. It was not shared or forwarded to anyone after it was sent to me from my dad's phone.
32. I am not a technical person. I merely use a phone to contact my clients via text and to make and receive calls. I am not social media active. The IT person from Dawson Cornwall was able to extract the video sent to me originally by AM from an album or folder using the date and time.
Cyfor
AM
YA
Mother's Solicitor
MAJ
NP
Father's Earlier Direct Access Counsel
6. In terms of the witness statement dated 14.4.23, a draft form of the father's witness statement dated 14.4.23 was sent to me on 13.4.23 by NP on behalf of her father seeking a review of the statement. A review of the statement was conducted with a follow up call to the father on 13.4.23. In that call I made clear to him that a certified translator would need to read the statement to him in Urdu so he could confirm the truth of the statement to the best of his belief and knowledge and he was to provide a certificate of translation with his statement which was done.
7. In terms of the statement dated 8 th May 2023, I was not instructed by the father to prepare or draft his witness statement. On 3.5.23, NP sent me a witness statement that had been drafted for the father requiring for review. Feedback and advice was provided by me on 5.5.23 both in writing and on the phone directly to the father who had NP present. Amendments were made to the statement and the statement was then filed and served on 8 th May 2023 by the father.
8. In terms of the statement dated 7th June 2023 to the best of my recollection and records, I was not instructed to prepare or draft his witness statement. The same process applied where I was sent the scott schedule and statement to review. Advice was provided to the father r on amendments that were required. To my knowledge, those amendment were made by NP on behalf of the father and the statement and scott schedule were submitted by the father
Within their statement Direct Access Counsel states:
I can confirm during my telephone discussion with him between April -June and at my in person court appearances with him, it did not appear to me that he did was not competent to provide instructions to me or that he did not have litigation capacity. We spoke in Urdu and he was a very pleasant, respectful client and we got on very well. My last contact with him was on 28th June 2023 at court where I explained the order to him in Urdu and we said our goodbyes..
Social Workers
D reported that around 2020 there was a burglary at his home. D's children reported that the burglary was orchestrated by A and her brothers who stole their father's gold and other belongings. D was also physically assaulted in the robbery and was admitted in hospital for weeks. A was reported to have fled when the matter was reported to the Police. D said he felt that the marriage was based on material things and the opportunity for A to come to the UK. D went on to state that he did not foresee bringing A to the UK because of she has ill-treated him and his daughter. D and his older children have disputed that Z was forcible separated from her mother. As stated in this assessment, Z came into the country accompanied by her older half-sister. D went on to state that all these allegations emanated from his withdrawal of the financial assistance he willingly provided to A. D clearly stated that he did not want his daughter to return to Pakistan as she was going to be exposed to poverty and mother's chaotic lifestyle. D stated that Z's needs are sufficiently met by him and his children and that she is not subjected to abuse or maltreatment.
DISCUSSION WITH CHILD:
When speaking with the child she stated that:
*she understood the difference between truth/lies
*she can't remember when she made the video
*she made the video in the room we were sitting in - this is the child's bedroom - the room holds two single beds - she shares the room with her father
*she made the video because her mother told her to - mom said to her 'make the video - take your pyjamas off' - mom also told her to take her underwear off
*(Z) sent the video to her mom - she did not send it to anyone else - in total, her mother told her to make 3 videos - (Z) sent all three to her mom - (Z) sent them using her dad's phone (this has been handed to the court)
*she was talking to herself when she spoke in the video
*when asked if she'd ever seen something similar to the video she made, elsewhere, (Z) replied - she'd seen a girl do it on the phone - when questioned further about where she'd seen the girl do it, (Z) said that she'd never seen anything like it before - she'd not seen a girl do it
*no family members in England had ever asked her to make a video or anything similar
*when she arrived in England (Z) had her own phone or I-Pad - this was for her to keep in touch with her mother in Pakistan - she doesn't have her own personal device any longer
*(Z) has never been asked by anyone to send still images of herself without clothing - no one in England has ever asked her to send videos/images
*(Z) likes living with her dad in England - things are 'good' here - she enjoys eating - her favourite food is pizza
*she wants to stay in England with her dad and family
*(Z) enjoys going out with her dad - they go to the park and the shops - she also goes out with her sisters and their children - places such as the safari park and the cinema
*no one in England harms her
PAKISTAN
*when she lived in Pakistan, (Z) lived with her mother - there was just the two of them
*she wasn't happy there - mom's 'not good' (couldn't explain what she meant by this)
*she does not want to live with mom in the future
*in Pakistan, mom, on 2 occasions, hit her head with a plate (just above her eyebrow)
The Parties' Positions in Closing
Acknowledgement of Allegations
D acknowledges the serious nature of the allegations and places full trust in the Court's careful consideration of all evidence presented. He is confident that the Court will make a determination that aligns with Z's welfare and best interests.
Proposed Care Arrangements for Z
Given his health limitations, D believes that the most suitable resolution for Z's welfare is her reunification with her mother. This arrangement ensures Z's daily needs are met while preserving her connection to her extended family.
D's Relationship with Z
Despite his health challenges, D cherishes his close bond with Z. He respectfully requests that arrangements allow for regular contact with Z to nurture and maintain their relationship. This ongoing connection is vital to Z's emotional security and her sense of belonging within the family. D is committed to cooperating fully with the Court and other parties to ensure a swift resolution that serves Z's best interests and provides her with the stability and care she needs. He has demonstrated his willingness to prioritise Z's needs above his own, showing his deep commitment to her welfare.
The Law
...the fact that one is in a family case sailing under the comforting colours of child protection is not a reason to afford to unsatisfactory evidence a weight greater than it can properly bear. That is in nobody's interests, least of all the children.
I wish only to stress … the very great importance of including in any assessment every aspect of a case. Very important indeed is the account of the child, considered, of course, in an age-appropriate way. An express denial is no less an account than is a positive account of abuse. It is also, in my opinion, very important to take fully into account the account and demeanour of the parents, and an assessment of the family circumstances and general quality of the parenting.
[34] A case based on circumstantial evidence depends for its cogency on the combination of relevant circumstances and the likelihood or unlikelihood of coincidence. A party advancing it argues that the circumstances can only or most probably be accounted for by the explanation which it suggests. Consideration of such a case necessarily involves looking at the whole picture, including what gaps there are in the evidence, whether the individual factors relied upon are in themselves properly established, what factors may point away from the suggested explanation and what other explanation might fit the circumstances. As Lord Mance observed in Datec Electronics Holdings Limited v UPS limited [2007] UKHL 23, [2007] 1 WLR 1325, at 48 and 50, there is an inherent risk that a systematic consideration of the possibilities could become a process of elimination "leading to no more than a conclusion regarding the least unlikely cause of loss", which was the fault identified in The Popi M. So, at the end of any such systematic analysis, the court has to stand back and ask itself the ultimate question whether it is satisfied that the suggested explanation is more likely than not to be true. The elimination of other possibilities as more implausible may well lead to that conclusion, but that will be a conclusion of fact: there is no rule of law that it must do so. I do not read any of the statements in any of the other authorities to which we were referred as intending to suggest otherwise.
[35] The civil "balance of probability" test means no less and no more than that the court must be satisfied on rational and objective grounds that the case for believing that the suggested means of causation occurred is stronger than the case for not so believing …
[100] One highly important aspect of the Lucas decision, and indeed the approach to lies generally in the criminal jurisdiction, needs to be borne fully in mind by family judges. It is this: in the criminal jurisdiction the 'lie' is never taken, of itself, as direct proof of guilt. As is plain from the passage quoted from Lord Lane's judgment in Lucas, where the relevant conditions are satisfied the lie is "capable of amounting to a corroboration". In recent times the point has been most clearly made in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division in the case of R v Middleton [2001] Crim.L.R. 251. In my view there should be no distinction between the approach taken by the criminal court on the issue of lies to that adopted in the family court. Judges should therefore take care to ensure that they do not rely upon a conclusion that an individual has lied on a material issue as direct proof of guilt.
To be capable of amounting to corroboration the lie told out of court must first of all be deliberate. Secondly it must relate to a material issue. Thirdly the motive for the lie must be a realisation of guilt and a fear of the truth. The jury should in appropriate cases be reminded that people sometimes lie, for example, in an attempt to bolster up a just cause, or out of shame or out of a wish to conceal disgraceful behaviour from their family. Fourthly the statement must be clearly shown to be a lie by evidence other than that of the accomplice who is to be corroborated, that is to say by admission or by evidence from an independent witness.
It is of course elementary that one should put to one side any notion that an unwillingness to place reliance on a child's evidence of sexual abuse necessarily imputes bad faith to the child, its parents or any other interrogator. What the research has thrown into stark relief is quite simply that very young children do not appear to have the same clear boundaries between fact and fantasy as that which adults have learned to draw.
… Painful past experience has taught that the greatest care needs to be taken if the risk of obtaining unreliable evidence is to be minimised. Children are often poor historians. They are likely to view interviewers as authority figures. Many are suggestible. Many more wish to please. They do not express themselves clearly or in adult terms, so that what they say can easily be misinterpreted if the listeners are not scrupulous to avoid jumping to conclusions. They may not have understood what was said or done to them or in their presence.
a. Children, and especially young children, are suggestible.
b. Memory is prone to error and easily influenced by the environment in which recall is invited.
c. Memories can be confabulated from imagined experiences; it is possible to induce false memories and children can speak sincerely and emotionally about events that did not in fact occur.
d. Allegations made by children may emerge in a piecemeal fashion, with children often not reporting events in a linear history, reporting them in a partial way and revisiting topics.
e. The wider circumstances of the child's life may influence, explain, or colour what the child is saying.
f. Factors affecting when a child says something will include their capacity to understand their world and their role within it, requiring caution when interpreting children's references to behaviour or parts of the body through the prism of adult learning or reading.
g. Accounts given by children are susceptible to influence by leading or otherwise suggestive questions, repetition, pressure, threats, negative stereotyping and encouragement, reward, or praise.
h. Accounts given by children are susceptible to influence as the result of bias or preconceived ideas on the part of the interlocutor.
i. Accounts given by children are susceptible to contamination by the statements of others, which contamination may influence a child's responses.
j. Children may embellish or overlay a general theme with apparently convincing detail which can appear highly credible and be very difficult to detect, even for those who are experienced in dealing with children.
k. Delay between an event recounted and the allegation made with respect to that event may influence the accuracy of the account given.
l. Within this context, the way, and the stage at which a child is asked questions / interviewed will have a profound effect on the accuracy of the child's testimony
37. None of this should have happened. In the case of S, unlike her siblings, there was clear reason to think that she might well have something to say and certainly there might be questions which needed to be asked of her. It would have been much more sensible to record all conversations with her. To proceed without recording was to court the risk that what would happen was what did; that is to say that S would produce information, that it would be undesirable to stop her, but that the professionals were not ready to deal with it. If there was to be any possibility of such an unrecorded discussion ensuing, the absolute irreducible minimum was that a full note be taken of questions as well as answers. There were also other lesser, but important, respects in which this discussion failed to comply with the ABE guidelines. There was, for example, no truth and lies discussion.
(a) the timing, setting and people present;
(b) a full note of what the child said in the words used by the child (avoiding summaries of the account in the interests of neatness or comprehensibility and recordings of the adult's interpretation of the account);
(c) a full note of the actual questions asked (if any);
(d) what was said by anybody else present; and
(e) the record should also record the demeanour of the child and anything else that might be relevant.
11. The importance of complying with the ABE guidance, which is directed at both criminal and family proceedings, has been reiterated by this court in a series of cases including TW v. A City Council [2011] EWCA Civ 17, Re W, Re F [2015] EWCA Civ 1300, Re E (A Child) [2016] EWCA Civ 473, Re Y and F (Children) Sexual Abuse Allegations) [2019] EWCA Civ 206 and in the judgments of MacDonald J in AS v. TH and others [2016] EWHC 532 (Fam) and Re P (Sexual Abuse: Finding of Fact Hearing) [2019] EWFC 27. It is unnecessary to repeat at any length the extensive comments set out in some of those judgments. For the purpose of this appeal, the following points are of particular relevance. (Save where indicated, the paragraphs cited are from the ABE guidance.)
(1) "The ABE guidance is advisory rather than a legally enforceable code. However, significant departures from the good practice advocates in it will likely result in reduced (or in extreme cases no) weight being attached to the interview by the courts." (Re P (Sexual Abuse: Finding of Fact Hearing), supra, paragraph 856)
(2) Any initial questioning of the child prior to the interview should be intended to elicit a brief account of what is alleged to have taken place; a more detailed account should not be pursued at this stage but should be left until the formal interview takes place (paragraph 2.5).
(3) In these circumstances, any early discussions with the witness should, as far as possible, adhere to the following guidelines.
(a) Listen to the witness.
(b) Do not stop a witness who is freely recalling significant events.
(c) Where it is necessary to ask questions, they should, as far as possible in the circumstances, be open-ended or specific-closed rather than forced-choice, leading or multiple.
(d) Ask no more questions than are necessary in the circumstances to take immediate action.
(e) Make a comprehensive note of the discussion, taking care to record the timing, setting and people present as well as what was said by the witness and anybody else present (particularly the actual questions asked of the witness).
(f) Make a note of the demeanour of the witness and anything else that might be relevant to any subsequent formal interview or the wider investigation.
(g) Fully record any comments made by the witness or events that might be relevant to the legal process up to the time of the interview (paragraph 2.6, see also AS v. TH, supra, paragraph 42).
There is no question of this evidence being inadmissible for failure to comply with the ABE guidelines, and that has not been suggested in argument for either parent. In a family case evidence of this kind falls to be assessed, however unsatisfactory its origin. To hold otherwise would be to invest the guidelines with the status of the law of evidence and it would invite the question: which failures have the consequence of inadmissibility? Clearly some failures to follow the guidelines will reduce, but by no means eliminate, value of the evidence. Others may reduce the value almost to vanishing point.
215. I want at this stage to say a further word about fact-finding. It is an art, not a technique. Like every worthwhile art, it is, of course, underpinned by technique and science. …Reliability is and remains the lodestar of fact-finding, and that, as we have seen, is underpinned by techniques of investigation and the science of reasoning.
The art, however, goes further. A lack of reliability may obscure truth, but it does not altogether eliminate its perception. So long as the judge remains alert to the dangers arising from unreliability and exercises the caution due to that, it may be possible to discern flashes of truth or incidents that have about them the ring of truth. Where the judge meets that, and having exercised all due caution, is convinced of it, then the court has not only the right but the duty to act upon it. I make this comment because these allegations of sexual assault, coming uncorroborated from very damaged young people, as is the case here, are just those where what I have described may indeed occur…
The ABE process is there for a reason. It is designed as a safeguard against unsound findings based on accounts that are unreliable or misunderstood. Of course, the fact that the guidance has not been followed does not mean that findings of abuse cannot be made where the evidence as a whole justifies it. But the worse the breaches of guidance the more careful the court must be.
First, the evolution of K's statements needed to be charted. The judgment did not do that (so that time during the appeal hearing was spent in constructing a chronology) but instead summarised each witness's evidence in sequence. It then considered the ABE interview process and placed it against a broad account of the other evidence. It would in my view have assisted the judge if he had identified and focused on the chapters of time covered by the evidence. These might conveniently have been arranged under these headings: the background, the first accounts, the ABE process, K's subsequent statements. This approach would have allowed the judge to focus on the situation K found herself in at various stages and to address F2's case effectively.
It is clear from the Practice Direction that the words abandonment and stranding are not terms of art and that they are not intended to be applied in a formulaic manner. This is because there are a number of ways in which a spouse might be said to have been abandoned or stranded abroad or in which the other spouse might have sought to achieve this. I would agree with Mr Gration when he submitted that cases can include many differing elements which militates against their being placed in distinct categories.
The core feature of the concept of stranding or abandonment is the exploitation or the attempted exploitation by one spouse of the other's vulnerability or weakness to seek to ensure that they are not able to come to or return to the UK. As Peter Jackson J (as he then was) said in ZM v AM [2014] EWHC 2110 (Fam), at [1], it can be the "opportunity" the secure immigration status of one spouse and the insecure immigration status of the other gives "the former to exploit the latter's weakness". However, as PD12J makes clear, it is based more generally on "controlling, coercive or threatening behaviour, violence or abuse"
125 In addition, I have reminded myself of Re H-N [2021] EWCA Civ 448, in particular that:
… there are many cases in which the allegations are not of violence, but of a pattern of behaviour which it is now understood is abusive. This has led to an increasing recognition of the need in many cases for the court to focus on a pattern of behaviour and this is reflected by [PD12J] [25].
… not all directive, assertive, stubborn, or selfish behaviour, will be 'abuse' in the context of proceedings concerning the welfare of a child; much will turn on the intention of the perpetrator of the alleged abuse and on the harmful impact of the behaviour.
Finally, I have reminded myself of Judd J's judgment in M (A Child) [2021] EWHC 3225 (Fam):
The reason it was so important for the judge to give very careful consideration to the question of vulnerability in this case is because a vulnerable person may not act in the same way as someone more independent or confident if they are exploited or abused in a relationship. Such an individual may be so anxious for the relationship to succeed that they accept treatment that others would not. They may be easy to exploit. They may not even realise what is happening to them, and will cling to the dream of a happy family and relationship …
My Findings on the Facts
Z admitted to making the video. She said, 'Aapi, at one stage I told my mom that I didn't have a good day today because I had some burning sensation when I went to the toilet. My mom told me it's ok darling, just make me a video of your private parts while dancing and send it to me I will tell your dad'
a. being brought to England on a false premise with the result that her relationship with her mother was disrupted;
b. not being in formal education and missing a whole year of school; and
c. having her contact with her mother stopped on 26 January 2023 without putting into place any mechanism for resolution of the issue with the result that without these wardship proceedings her contact with her mother would have been severed forever.
Welfare and Future Steps