XZR, Re (Abduction: Hague Convention (Lithuania))

Paul Bowen KC (sitting as a Deputy Judge of the High Court) ____________________

Harry Langford (instructed by Bindmans LLP) for the Applicant Olivia Gaunt (instructed by Freemans) for the Respondent Hearing dates: 17 January 2024 ____________________

9.1. F has a criminal record in the United Kingdom for domestic violence (against a previous partner) and had been imprisoned for 3 months for failing to comply with the conditions on contact with the victim during the pre-trial investigation.

9.2. On 26 March 2019, whilst on a suspended sentence, F was violent towards M and she contacted the police in the United Kingdom. He was charged but the F again denied his role in the abuse. The Applicant urged the Interested Party to withdraw her complaint and forgive him so that he could avoid a court sentence.

9.3. On 11 December 2021, in Lithuania, F was the arrested for a further assault of M, whom he had injured by hitting her head against the iron gate of the yard. The reason for his aggression was that M did not go outside the yard gate when he brought the child home but asked him to hand over the child when he was brought to the gate. F kept the child in the car for two hours with the window open (a video is attached to the file) in the rain, which made the child ill the next day and prevented him from seeing his father for that reason.