08/08/2012
Mother Took Children Out Of Care 'In Hunt For Fair Hearing'
A mother who sparked a cross-border hunt when she took her children to Dublin did so in desperation to secure a "fair hearing", which she felt she would not get from Northern Irish authorities.
The woman was found in Dublin with her six-year-old daughter and three-year-old son on Friday and the children are now in foster care, waiting to be adopted.
Both the mother and her estranged partner were charged with child abduction in Newry Magistrates Court on Monday.
They are remaining anonymous to protect the children involved.
The alarm was raised when the mother failed to return her children to the Southern Health and Social Care Trust after an arranged meeting with them on Thursday in Newry.
Investigating officers then visited her home area and found out that the woman was planning a trip to Dublin.
Through tracing mobile phone calls, police gathered enough evidence to bring the woman and her ex-partner to court.
When the woman was found in a Dublin caravan park, she admitted the abduction, saying she had intended to hand herself in to the southern authorities after spending a weekend with the children.
The court heard she did this as she felt "she could get no fair hearing in the north".
The woman has been granted £100 bail, on the condition that she finds a police-approved place to stay outside of Down and Armagh, avoids contact with witnesses, social services and her co-accused, and signs daily at a police station.
Her ex-partner is still in custody.
(NE)
The woman was found in Dublin with her six-year-old daughter and three-year-old son on Friday and the children are now in foster care, waiting to be adopted.
Both the mother and her estranged partner were charged with child abduction in Newry Magistrates Court on Monday.
They are remaining anonymous to protect the children involved.
The alarm was raised when the mother failed to return her children to the Southern Health and Social Care Trust after an arranged meeting with them on Thursday in Newry.
Investigating officers then visited her home area and found out that the woman was planning a trip to Dublin.
Through tracing mobile phone calls, police gathered enough evidence to bring the woman and her ex-partner to court.
When the woman was found in a Dublin caravan park, she admitted the abduction, saying she had intended to hand herself in to the southern authorities after spending a weekend with the children.
The court heard she did this as she felt "she could get no fair hearing in the north".
The woman has been granted £100 bail, on the condition that she finds a police-approved place to stay outside of Down and Armagh, avoids contact with witnesses, social services and her co-accused, and signs daily at a police station.
Her ex-partner is still in custody.
(NE)
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Northern Ireland WeatherToday:A sunny but frosty start for many. However cloud increases by midday with a few showers reaching the north coast, these mostly light but spreading inland this afternoon. Chilly. Maximum temperature 8 °C.Tonight:A rather cloudy evening with scattered showers. Becoming drier through the night with some good clear spells developing and a patchy frost away from coasts. Minimum temperature 0 °C.