The High Court has set aside an international child-abduction return order, allowing two brothers to remain living with their mother in England, after concluding there was no realistic prospect of enforcing their return to Ireland.

Sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge, Nicholas Stonor KC brought the Hague Convention proceedings to an end, finding that continued attempts to implement the return order would cause harm to the children and deepen their hostility towards their special guardians.

Background

The case concerned two brothers, AB (14) and CD (10). Their maternal grandfather (SG1) and step-grandmother (SG2) had been appointed as special guardians in Ireland in 2023. The boys were wrongfully retained in the North-East of England by their mother in August 2024.

On 6 December 2024, the court ordered the children’s return to Ireland under the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The mother opposed the order under Article 13(b) (risk of harm or intolerable situation) and Article 13 (child’s objections), but her case was rejected.

Subsequent appeals and applications to set aside the return order were refused by the Court of Appeal. By early 2025, there had been multiple unsuccessful attempts to enforce the order.

Enforcement difficulties

A collection order issued in March 2025 failed after both boys refused to go with the officers sent to collect them. The court noted that CD became distressed at school, saying he would not leave, while AB said he would “under no circumstances ever return to Ireland.”

Efforts to re-establish contact between the boys and their grandparents also failed. CAFCASS officer Ms Daisy Veitch reported in August 2025 that both children now rejected their grandparents and that continuing proceedings were harming them. She advised a “more conciliatory approach” and said a final resolution was needed so the boys could feel settled.

Judge’s decision

Judge Stonor found that the developments since the original order amounted to a “fundamental change in circumstances” undermining its basis. He ruled that there was no realistic prospect of the return order being implemented in the foreseeable future.

He concluded that continuing the proceedings would bring no benefit and risk further harm to the children: “The continuation of these proceedings will bring no benefit to the boys and is likely to do harm by deepening their hostility towards the [special guardians].”

The return order made on 6 December 2024 was set aside, and the Hague proceedings formally ended.

The judge endorsed Ms Veitch’s “light-touch” recommendations for contact between the children and their grandparents, to be recorded as a recital in the final order. He added that any future welfare proceedings should take place in England rather than Ireland.

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Re AB and CD (Children) (No 3) (1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention: Set Aside)
High Court of Justice – Family Division
Judge: Nicholas Stonor KC, sitting as a Deputy High Court Judge
Children: AB (14), CD (10)
Hearing: 26 September 2025 | Judgment: 1 October 2025
Case No: FD24P00418
Legislation: Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 (1980 Hague Convention)