Emily Rayner in Re G (A Child) (Abduction: Poland) [2025] EWHC 2752 (Fam)
22nd Dec 2025 | Cases
Emily Rayner, instructed by Waldrons solicitors, represented the respondent father in Re G (A Child) (Abduction: Poland) [2025] EWHC 2752 (Fam); an application by the child’s mother for the return of the child to Poland pursuant to the 1980 Hague Convention.
The family were Ukrainian nationals. The mother and child had fled from Ukraine to Poland at the outset of the war in March 2022. The father joined them in Poland in September 2022. The father and child travelled to England in October 2024.
The father defended the mother’s application for return on the basis of Article 13(b); on his behalf it was accepted that the individual complaints would not amount to a valid Article 13(b) defence but it was submitted, if looked at cumulatively, there was a sufficient picture of neglect, of developmental delay and of the difficulties that the child would face in seeking to assimilate back in Poland, to satisfy the court that there was a grave risk that the child’s return to Poland would expose him to physical or psychological harm or otherwise place him in an intolerable situation.
After considering all of the evidence and submissions, the court concluded that the allegations made by the father were not of a sufficient detail and substance either individually or cumulatively to give rise to the grave risk required under Article 13(b) and therefore found the defence was not made out. Furthermore, the mother was willing to give protective undertakings which the court accepted and the court took into account the child protection measures available in Poland. The court therefore ordered the return of the child to Poland.
