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A boy of 13 has started a family court case by himself in an attempt to return to the UK after being “abandoned” by his parents in Africa over fears he was involved in gangs in Britain, a judge has been told.
The youngster contacted the British consulate and a child welfare organisation after his parents enrolled him at a boarding school before returning to Britain.
Barristers for the boy claim his parents “physically and emotionally abandoned” him over concerns that he was involved in gangs in London, which he “denies in the strongest terms”.
At a hearing, which began on Tuesday, his lawyers asked a judge to order his return, having lived in Britain since birth.
But lawyers for the boy’s father said he should be allowed to stay abroad and that the decision to “relocate” him was “a proper exercise of parental responsibility”.
The boy, his parents and the African country where he is living cannot be named for legal reasons. In written submissions, Deirdre Fottrell KC, representing the teenager, said: “The steps this boy, not yet 14, has taken to try and remedy the awful situation he finds himself in are extreme.
“There is clear evidence that he is being harmed emotionally, psychologically and possibly physically in the environment in which he has been placed. It is extraordinary that his parents would consider it fair or appropriate.”
She said his return to Britain did not carry the risks they feared, adding: “The likely effect does not include being stabbed, shot or other dramatic outcomes that his parents fear based on their views of gang membership.’ She said his evidence that he was not in a gang was ‘categorical”.
The boy was described in court as “polite and articulate” and a keen fan of football and cooking.
Ms Fottrell said he was enrolled in the school abroad and was taken “without consultation or warning” with few of his possessions under the impression they were going to care for a relative.
She said this was a “stark and quite brutal act”, adding that he was “extremely unhappy” in Africa, he claimed he “hates it” and finds it “humiliating”, and “his English friends tease him for having been ‘deported’.”
The boy claims he received “inadequate” food and tuition, and was being “mistreated”.
High Court judge Mr Justice Hayden said the boy was subject to “incredibly restrictive” measures while in the UK.
Rebecca Foulkes, for the boy’s father, said social workers had outlined that, before the boy left the UK, “the mother was using physical aggression” to manage her son’s “difficult behaviour”.
He was said to be late to class, would stay out late, and his school claimed it had “suspicions about him engaging in criminal activities”.
In written submissions, Ms Foulkes said the boy had been accused of stealing phones and had photographs of knives on his phone.
The hearing before Mr Justice Hayden resumes at a later date.