Teen boy sent to Africa by parents to protect him from London gangs wi | UK | News

A teenage boy whose parents won a court ruling that he would be safer attending a school in one of the most dangerous continents on earth than living amidst London’s gang-riddled streets has won his appeal.

The boy’s parents believed he was becoming embroiled in the capital’s deadly knife and gun crime war raging between rival street gangs and so enrolled him in an African boarding school.

They told him they didn’t want him to be “another black boy dead on the streets of London.”

The court was told how “negative influences” had pushed the boy “towards criminal behaviours”, which included missing school, getting into fights and being aggressive towards his parents.

Teachers sparked concerns he was at risk of criminal exploitation when he began attending school sporting designer clothing.

Photographs of knives were then found on his phone sparking further concerns and he allegedly “asked a girl for an indecent image [and] then shared with others”, which he denied.

FILE – People stand outside the Royal Court of Justice in London, Friday, March 17, 2023. (AP Photo/ (Image: AP)

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The child, who cannot be named, was 13 when he was taken to Ghana last year in the belief his family were visiting a sick relative, only to learn his devout Christian parents had registered him for the school.

But in a decision on Thursday, judges at the Court of Appeal ruled in the teenager’s favour, finding that the case should be restarted and heard by a different judge.

In a short ruling, Sir Andrew McFarlane, sitting with Lord Justice Baker and Lord Justice Arnold, said there was “confusion” in the previous judgment.

He said: “As will have been apparent during the hearing, we’ve become progressively more and more concerned as to the exercise the judge undertook.”

The judge added: “We are agreed that the appeal should be allowed and so that parties can engage with the process that must, sadly, inevitably follow from that, we have announced our decision today.”

Sir Andrew said the case will now be reheard by a different judge, with the next hearing planned to take place in the next few weeks.

A full decision will be given in writing at a later date.

The “highly distressed” child contacted the British consulate and Children and Families Across Borders (CFAB), a charity that provides advice in international child protection cases.

He made himself a ward of court and began legal proceedings against his parents claiming they “physically and emotionally abandoned” him whilst his lawyers subsequently sought to persuade the High Court to return him to the UK “as a matter of urgency” and place him in foster care.

The boy rejected claims he was in a gang and the judge conceded the boy had been taken to West Africa “by deception”.

In a decision made in in February, High Court judge Mr Justice Hayden sided with the parents and found the teenager “is at real risk of suffering greater harm in returning to the UK than if he were to remain in Ghana”.

But today the Court of Appeal was told the boy is “desperate” to return to the UK.

The boy’s barrister Deirdre Fottrell KC said it was his “steadfast and firm wish” for the appeal judges to order his return to the UK.

She said: “It is alienating for him and he feels that he is a British boy… and he never envisaged the situation that he would be living away from his family in another country and away from all that is familiar to him.”

Ms Fottrell said the boy is “highly distressed” about the situation and feels “abandoned” by his family.

She continued: “He really is quite desperate to return… to return to his family, to return to his social life and the structure in which he was living, but also to return to the UK.”

In written submissions, the barrister said the previous judge failed to give “due weight” to the boy’s feelings and autonomy and also “erroneously limited” his role in reviewing whether the decision to move the boy to Ghana was within the scope of parental responsibility.

Ms Fottrell added: “In the instant case Mr Justice Hayden discounted (the boy’s) wishes and feelings, assuming that there was a clear and tangible threat to his welfare.

“He discounted evidence that any threat was not capable of being ameliorated by other safeguards or protective measures.”

Rebecca Foulkes, for the parents, said they “found themselves in a wholly invidious position in March when they made the decision which they made”.

The barrister said in written submissions that the previous judge’s decision was “well reasoned” and “fell well within the parameters of reasonable decisions open to him”.

The High Court previously heard that the parents’ concerns about their son had been growing before the decision to take him out of the UK.

These concerns included poor school attendance, being aggressive, susceptibility to being groomed, an allegation of stealing phones and worrying Snapchat conversations.

In his ruling, Mr Justice Hayden said he accepted that the teenager was involved in criminal activity and was at least “on the periphery” of gang culture.

Ms Foulkes said in her written submissions on Thursday: “The conclusion reached, on the facts of this case, cannot be said to be anything other than a sound welfare decision.”

The barrister later said that while the boy’s wishes and feelings are a “central aspect” of the decision over what is in his best interest, “ultimately, the court determined that his best interests required that his views should not prevail”.

During the previous proceedings, the boy said he would rather be in foster care in the UK than remain in his current situation.

Ms Foulkes said the previous judge was entitled to conclude that the teenager “had little understanding of what entering the care system truly involves” and that he was “likely to continue to reject the authority of his parents, school and other adults, and his acting out and risk-taking behaviours were highly likely to increase” if he were placed in care.

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