French woman ‘protects’ her son

A High Court judge will rule whether a mother who is wanted for allegedly abducting her own son should be sent to France to face charges.

The French woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has claimed she came to Ireland to protect her son. However, French authorities say she is wanted for child abduction and for failing to deliver the boy to his father, who is entitled to joint custody. The boy is now 17 years old.

At the High Court yesterday, the woman’s legal representative Michael Lynn SC told Justice Aileen Donnelly that the boy came to Ireland willingly and that although there may be a court order regarding custody in France, this should have no bearing on the boy’s right to travel with his mother.