Matthew Stott and Fazeela Ishmael in A (A Child) (Abduction from Pakistan) [2025] EWHC 2637 (Fam)
20th Nov 2025 | Cases
Matthew Stott led Fazeela Ishmael, they appeared on behalf of the applicant local authority in A (A Child) (Abduction from Pakistan) [2025] EWHC 2637 (Fam); a fact-finding hearing before Mr Justice Harrison. This concerned an application for a care order and an application by a mother for the return of her child to Pakistan under the court’s inherent jurisdiction.
Both parents made serious cross-allegations of child abduction, domestic abuse and falsified evidence arising from events in Pakistan and the United Kingdom.
After hearing extensive evidence, the court made findings in respect of both parents including assault of the father by the maternal family. However, the court also found that the scale of the father’s dishonesty was significant: he forged documents, procured witnesses to give false evidence on his behalf, and coached the child to make false allegations against her mother. Crucially, the court found the father had abducted the child in Pakistan in extremely violent and traumatic circumstances, including drugging the mother, and on his instructions, she was tied up and abandoned on a roof. The court found that these experiences are likely to have caused the child severe and enduring psychological harm.
Matthew Stott has recently been appointed to the Circuit Bench and will sit on the South Eastern Circuit at Watford County and Family Court.
