In the recent case of Leicester City Council v T [2016] EWFC 20, the High Court has ruled that the three children (aged between 4 and 12) of a woman who tried to take them to an area of Syria controlled by the Islamic State must live with their maternal grandmother.
The mother was arrested at Birmingham Airport having checked in nine suitcases on a flight to Munich. The mother initially stated that she and the children were taking a holiday to see their father in Munich and then travel to France. However, the mother’s luggage showed an itinerary which contradicted this and showed a plan to travel onward from Germany to Turkey, where she had booked three nights’ accommodation in Istanbul.
A mobile phone belonging to the woman was also seized after her arrest last summer which contained images of children carrying firearms and wearing balaclavas bearing the Isis emblem. A further examination of electronic devise and mobile phones at the family’s home indicated that the mother had been in conversation with a large number of people known to be linked to the Islamic State.
After initially being taken from the woman under a police protection order and placed into temporary foster care, Mr Justice Keehan, who sits in the family division of the High Court, said that it would not be in the children’s best interests to return them to their mother’s care and ruled that they should live with their maternal grandparents.
No specific order was made in respect of contact and the judge gave no indication as to whether the woman had faced criminal charges.