Desperate dad's race to find son

Jan 16 2013 By Jackie Grant

A Dumfries dad fears that his estranged wife is planning to flee the country with their seven-year-old son.

And he told the Standard that he is facing “a race against time” to trace the pair whom he last saw on December 7.

His solicitor obtained a court summons preventing his wife, a foreign national, from taking their son overseas.

But the police cannot intervene until legal papers have been served by sheriff officers who have been unable to track her down.The 48-year-old businessman said: “I sincerely believe that she’s planning her escape from this country and my time is running out.

“My wife took my son out of school on December 7 and has not brought him home.

“Since she left, my wife has failed to appear in court three times so far. She’s due to appear again on Thursday but I’m not hopeful that she will.

“If I never see my son again, that will be the end for me. He is my life.”

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, met his 52-year-old wife while he was working abroad and the pair came back to set up home in Dumfries and Galloway in 2004.

He said: “When my first marriage ended I put an advert in the paper looking for love and she came along.

“She was beautiful. Alarm bells should have started ringing when she asked me to marry her a week later but I was lonely, and thought why not?”

He said after their son was born, the relationship started to deteriorate.

And he claims he was forced to contact police on numerous occasions after she became violent towards him.

The couple were still living together up until the moment she vanished with their son.

The desperate dad added: “After they disappeared, I contacted a solicitor who managed to get a summons from the court stating that my wife nor anybody representing her, is allowed to leave the country with my son.

“I hid his passport from her a while ago so she doesn’t have that, but my lawyer thinks they may be in Edinburgh and it worries me that she’s so close to an airport and finds a way of escaping.

“The police can’t do anything until she’s been served with the summons but she just keeps running.”

He also believes that the head teacher at his son’s school and the council’s director of education know the youngster has been enrolled at another school, but won’t tell him where.

“They refuse to tell me where he is even though he’s my son and I believe she is planning her escape from this country,” he said.

“I feel utterly helpless and time is running out. This marriage was a sham from the start and other people should be aware of what can happen in situations like this.

“My son means everything to me and I’m totally devoted to him.

“She left that day without taking his clothes, toys or even his toothbrush. His shoes are still by the front door and his Christmas presents are unopened.

“I’m terrified that I’ll never see him again. I just want him home.”

A police spokesman said: “We can confirm that we were contacted by a member of the public on a civil issue concerning child custody.

“Advice was given to the individual on consulting a solicitor for guidance on the civil process. The matter is a civil matter with no police action is anticipated.”

A council spokesman added: “It would be inappropriate for our council to discuss an individual case through the pages of a newspaper.”