A Father v A Mother (Re a Hague Convention Return Order in Respect to Two Children)

Ms A O�Grady QC with Ms B-L Herdman BL (instructed by John J Rice & Co Solicitors) for the Mother Mr H Toner QC with Ms V Ross BL (instructed by Nixon & Co Solicitors) for the Father

[This is an edited transcript of an ex tempore judgment.�� It has been anonymised to protect the identity of the children.]

�You crossed the line, you brought my kids into it and I�m coming, I�m coming, I�m gonna rip [the mother] that�s what I�m going to do, that�s my premier objective.�

�I will do that once, once I have done that I�m coming to rip you apart as well.�

[5]������ I consider the tone, and when I say tone, I am referring both to content and the method by which it was delivered, to be clearly threatening.� He certainly appeared to be intoxicated and I note this would have been approximately 10:30pm French time.� I do not categorise these as the ramblings of a harmless drunk that could be safely ignored with him being left to sleep it all off.� I understand these messages have been referred both to the Police Service of Northern Ireland and to the Gendarmerie where the father currently resides.�