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  4. Parent snatching child should be dealt with as contempt: appeal court

Parent snatching child should be dealt with as contempt: appeal court

2nd July 2015 | criminal law , family-child law

As a general rule, a parent who snatches their own child in breach of a court's residence order should be dealt with as in contempt of court, rather than prosecuted for abduction, the criminal appeal court has commented.

The court made the remark while refusing an appeal against conviction by a man referred to as SB, who forcibly took his 11 year old son from outside a flat in Edinburgh and drove him to Coventry. 

On SB's appeal against conviction the court rejected an argument of defective representation based on failure to advance a defence of lawful authority, as counsel had advised it was not tenable and his conduct of the case could not be regarded as outwith the range of reasonableness. Further, although SB had not been deprived of his parental responsibilities and rights, his right to regulate the complainer’s residence had been removed and he had no other lawful authority to take the child from his home.

The court added: "In general it is desirable that the conduct of parents in snatching their own children in defiance of a civil court order should be dealt with as a contempt of that court, rather than in a criminal prosecution. The latter course should only be used in exceptional cases where the conduct is so bad that it would be regarded by the ordinary right thinking person as criminal behaviour. The assessment of that remains a matter for the [Lord Advocate]."

However the sentence of two years' imprisonment was replaced with one for nine months, as the sheriff had found that, however misguided, SB (a first offender) had been acting in what he perceived were the child’s interests.

Click here to view the opinion.

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