Custody blow for 'tricked' mother

Foreign Office officials have said they will continue to stay in close contact with overseas authorities over the case of the youngster.

Rebecca Jones, 43, originally from Sheffield, lost a seven-month battle to regain custody of son Adam, whom she claims she was tricked into giving up by the family of her dead husband.

Mrs Jones is reported to have registered the case at the High Court under the Child Abduction Act and has appealed to the British Government for help.

Yesterday, a spokeswoman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: "We were sorry to hear of the outcome of Mrs Jones's appeal for custody and our thoughts are with the Jones family at this difficult time.

"We will continue to provide consular assistance and stay in close touch with the family, as we have throughout.

"We also remain in close contact with the Qatari authorities about this case.

"We cannot, however, interfere in the judicial process of another country. Issues of custody and access need to be decided by the courts."

Mrs Jones was amicably divorced from her son Adam's father, Jamal Al Madhaiki, who died in a motorcycle accident in 2005.

She had remarried before her first husband's death and in October last year took Adam to visit his paternal family in Qatar.

She said she was asked to sign some Arabic documents which she believed were related to Adam's inheritance but, after signing, was informed she had given away custody of her son.

Mrs Jones, who now lives in Bahrain with her husband Barrie and their four-year-old daughter Alex, launched legal action to try to win Adam back but, at a court hearing earlier this month, judges ruled in favour of his 77-year-old grandmother.

She said she had been "devastated" by the loss of her son. The court is believed to have ruled that she can only see her son twice a week for just four hours.

Mrs Jones said: "Despite assurances from senior officials in Qatar the law would be upheld and the best interests of the child would be paramount, the courts awarded full custody to the grandmother.

"I urge the British Government to intervene and have Adam returned to me and his family.

"I will never give up fighting for him. He's been deprived of a loving home, family and childhood.

"Adam has been handed over to virtual strangers who know nothing about him and who seem determined to wipe out the last 10 years of his life.

"This is completely against the rights of my child and me as his mother."

An online petition of more than 5,000 names is backing her case which is attracting an international following.

The case comes as a father from York, who has been fighting for access to his young son in Portugal, is marking the first anniversary since the boy was taken from the UK by his estranged wife.

Ian Hudson, 64, has criticised authorities in Britain for not doing enough to get his nine-year-old son Filipe back home after his mother removed him from school last May in York.

Fearing he would be taken from the country, he obtained a Prohibited Steps Order from York County Court on May 14, which should have prevented the boy from leaving England without the court's consent.

But between May 14 and May 18, his partner dodged port alerts set up by police to stop her fleeing with Filipe.

Mr Hudson, who lives in Stockton-on-the-Forest, said not enough was being done to return his son back to the UK.

"Filipe had an order on him preventing his mother taking him out of this country, but the authorities are doing nothing," he said. "I don't stop thinking about him from the moment I wake up until last thing at night. It's just one long nightmare.