Girl, 5, caught in crossfire between separated parents

A five-year-old girl has been caught in the crossfire between her separated parents, ending up with her father in Scotland although the mother insists she had won custody of the child.

The father has since been allowed to keep her until the court decides whether to return the child, a Ħamrun resident, to the island.

Last month, Emma McLelland, 26, took her daughter Caitlin on holiday to visit family in Scotland, where her ex-husband, Chris, also lives.

He showed up at the airport and asked if he could keep their daughter for a day, a request Ms McLelland acceded to since their relationship had stopped being as volatile as it used to be.

But her worst nightmare became a reality when he failed to return Caitlin.

After a frantic couple of days trying to track him down and get her daughter back, Ms McLelland had to fly back home alone. The Scottish police told her the only thing she could do otherwise was "kidnap her back", she said.

"The hardest part was getting on that plane. I cried for the full four hours. But I had no choice. I had to either kidnap her back or come home and start some sort of proceedings," she said, holding back her tears.

Ms McLelland spent Christmas worrying helplessly about her daughter. But she was even more devastated when she finally managed to make contact with Caitlin only to hear her say: "Daddy said you left us."

When contacted in Scotland, Mr McLelland denied any wrongdoing, claiming he took back his daughter because she was being neglected in an unhygienic and dangerous environment.

Both parents traded accusations of violence, abusive and unstable behaviour and said they had a history of police reports about each other.

Mr McLelland claimed Caitlin did not even live with her mother in Malta and was instead brought up by Ms McLelland's father who, he said, lived in a decrepit house falling to bits.

After enrolling Caitlin in a Scottish school, Mr McLelland filed a court case in Scotland to start fresh custody proceedings.

He and his lawyer have claimed, without showing any documentation, that the Scottish Welfare Department allowed him to keep his daughter until the court decided the child's fate.

Ms McLelland provided legal documents saying she had custody of Caitlin and since the child was a Maltese resident she said her ex-husband's case did not hold.

"I've won her. That's my girl. I've paid thousands of euros. I've gone through three and a half years of court cases. Why should I have to go through it again just because he decided to retain her in Scotland? He shouldn't be given a chance," Ms McLelland said.

The only way she can get Caitlin back is to file a report under the Hague Convention, which spells out the procedures that should be taken for a child to be returned to her rightful guardian.

Although Ms McLelland and her lawyer believe the child should be returned with no questions asked through this convention, the Scottish courts have decided to give Mr McLelland the chance to defend himself.

The court case is due in January.

Meanwhile, the only memories of Caitlin in Malta is a room in her mother's Ħamrun home full of framed photos recalling almost every stage of her childhood - and several of her unopened presents under the Christmas tree.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com