A woman who took her 11-year-old son to a Greek island to protect him from COVID-19 should not have done so, a UK judge said.<\/p>\n
The boy's father wants judges in Greece and London to order he is returned to England.<\/p>\n
He says the boy was taken from London to Paros, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, without his permission.<\/p>\n
Mr Justice Mostyn, who oversaw a recent private hearing in London, said the man and woman are both Greek but had lived in London for more than two years.<\/p>\n
Details of the dispute emerged on Friday in a ruling published by the judge overseeing family court litigation in London, but he said the family could not be identified in media reports.<\/p>\n
He has adjourned the case and says a judge in Greece should hear evidence from the woman and make a decision.<\/p>\n
The woman left London with her son on 20 March, three days before Boris Johnson announced a national lockdown, and travelled to her mother's home in Paros, Mr Justice Mostyn said in his ruling.<\/p>\n
\"She did so in the belief that she and (the boy) would be much safer from the virus there,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"That may well have been a valid view, it being common knowledge that by virtue of pre-emptive action, Greece has a much lower rate of infection and mortality than this country.<\/p>\n
\"However that does not justify in the slightest what was a wrongful removal of (the boy) from the place of his habitual residence and, more importantly, from his father.\"<\/p>\n
She had emailed her estranged husband's lawyers to explain why she left, Mr Justice Mostyn said.<\/p>\n
\"I do not intend to stay in Greece permanently,\" she had said.<\/p>\n
\"The main reason that I have come to Greece is that I am very afraid of the coronavirus and I want to do whatever I can to keep (my son and me) safe from it.<\/p>\n
\"The small Greek island where my mother lives, where (we) are now staying with her, is naturally isolated from the mainland and has its own medical facilities.<\/p>\n
\"It is absolutely safe for until now there were zero incidents of coronavirus contamination.<\/p>\n
\"I believe that it is a much safer place to be for us, given the numbers of people (who are) affected and die in London on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
\"I do not know exactly when we will return, but that is because the whole situation is moving so quickly and no-one knows what things will be like in two weeks let alone a month.<\/p>\n
\"When I arrived in Greece it was not in complete lockdown.<\/p>\n
\"Since we got here they have closed the borders and travelling is banned completely and I don't think that I could even return now to England if I wanted to - which I do not at this time as I believe staying in Greece gives (my son) a much better chance in this pandemic.\"<\/p>\n
There have been 2,591 coronavirus cases confirmed in Greece, with none in Paros, while the UK had seen 177,454 cases and 27,510 deaths by Friday.<\/p>\n
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Coronavirus: Woman took son to Greek island to 'protect him from COVID-19' - Sky News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A woman who took her 11-year-old son to a Greek island to protect him from COVID-19 should not have done so, a UK judge said. The boy's father wants judges in Greece and London to order he is returned to England. He says the boy was taken from London to Paros, a Greek island in the Aegean Sea, without his permission. Continue reading