Posted on 03/15/2005 9:45:35 AM PST by GMMAC
Father prizes 'stolen days'
Girls in middle of international custody struggle
Craig Pearson
Windsor Star - Front Page
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
CHATHAM -- Jonathan England is clinging to the hope that somebody will finally listen to his three daughters -- who have already endured two emotional standoffs, refusing to allow police to take them to their mother -- and let them stay in their native Canada.
A decision through the Hague Convention, which decides on international custody cases, sees it differently.
On March 7, a court ruled that the three England children -- Leah, 10, Hannah, 7, and Nicola, 5 -- must return to their mother Marla England, who lives in the U.K. with her female partner.
But in less than a week, the sisters have twice refused to go to their mother, who is also a Canadian citizen, in a prearranged dropoffs at the Chatham police station.
Jonathan, a Windsor native, worries he may lose his daughters at any moment.
"I'm just focusing on spending time with my kids and trying to make the time as normal as possible to have some fun and spend some time," he said Monday at his Chatham home. "I view these as sort of stolen days."
"I've gone through it twice and they've gone though it twice.
"I'm appreciating it at a level I never thought I would."
The children say they simply want to stay in Canada with their dad.
"I got bullied a lot in school (in Britain) and the teachers yelled at the top of their lungs at the classes," said Leah England.
She said the southeast London area of Bexleyheath "was just not a nice part of England there. There was literally garbage everywhere.
"I'm not sure why, but me and my mom weren't really close when we were in England. I feel very close to my dad. I feel a lot safer here."
The Englands met in Toronto and moved to London. In August 2003, the family moved to Britain so Jonathan could land a teaching position. Marla eventually got work in an adult group home.
Soon the relationship between the two parents soured and Jonathan said he started suggesting everyone return to Canada. Marla developed a new relationship and Jonathan said she moved out of the family home in September 2004.
Six days later, Jonathan said he took the children back to Canada, where they spent most of their lives, to visit his family and attend to his ailing mother. He says he soon realized that neither he nor his kids wanted to return to Britain. Instead, the Windsor native moved to Chatham where his brother lives.
Marla filed for custody of the children through the Hague Convention, of which Canada is a signatory.
On Friday, the children refused to get out of the car at a pre-arranged dropoff with their mother, who is in Canada to take custody of her children.
When the handover was extended to Sunday, they did the same thing.
"The children were screaming for help for somebody to save them from being deported," said family friend Sean Moore, who drove the children to the handover. "They were out loud praying to God for intervention. They were screaming at the police not to take them away.
"After 40 minutes, I had had enough. I asked the officers in front of me to move, and then I drove to McDonald's."
Moore said he sees this as a Canadian autonomy issue.
"Why is our government saying it's OK to deport Canadian children?" he asks. "They're Canada's children."
Though Jonathan lost the court battle, which included presenting the judge with two psychologist reports showing that his two oldest daughters were capable of making their own decisions, he says he still hopes for a miracle.
"I'm frustrated because nobody's stepping up and saying, 'Let's stop the process, let's look at what these children are doing not to go back to England,'" Jonathan said. "Isn't that worth considering, regardless of the convention?"
© The Windsor Star 2005
"Faith & Family" PING!
The courts here in the USA, as in the Peoples Republic of Canada, are also virulently anti-father, violating basic human rights on a constant basis.
Why the liberals have no respect for their own citizen?
What would happen if he smuggled them into the USA?
That said, I'm always pissed off that the parents in cases like this can't behave like grown-ups. In this case, it sounds like (reading between the lines) the mother is a head-case.
I'm inclined to believe that the girls didn't want to leave. It does not necessarily follow that what they want, is necessarily the best thing for them. That's where the father's "warts" become relevant.
As I stated before, I suspect the mother may be a head-case. I suspect, also, that the father may be the better parent of the two.
But I also think (cynic that I am) that the choice is probably nowhere near so clear-cut as this article seems to imply.
The children were NOT born in the UK, they were born in Canada. They didn't move to the UK until August 2003, according to the article.
He would have a lot of trouble doing that. US Customs checks any minor children in a car very carefully. They like to eyeball the kids and if there is any question they will investigate what the situation is.
Nope, both parents are Canadian by birth, as are the children.
Just be thankful they're not deporting them to Cuba.
Apologies to you both. Misread that portion of the article. Thank you much.
"Marla England, who lives in the U.K. with her female partner."
This sounds like a Lesbian relationship, and my be one of the reasons the girls don't want to go to their mother. Amen.
that's nonsense.....
however, I do believe that motherhood carries with it certain privileges and I would hope that custody hearings reflect that.....
I don't want to be in the position to defend this mother in the story though, because I don't think homosexual parents are a wise choice.....
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