EXCLUSIVE Mother’s fears that she will never see her young daughter again after five-year-old’s father ‘kidnaps’ her on US holiday and takes her to Dubai in ‘child abduction’ case
A single mother fears she will never see her five-year-old daughter again after her father failed to bring her home from a holiday in Florida and instead flew with her to Dubai.
Natalie Kennedy, 43, said IT consultant Philip Thomas, 54, had defied court orders by refusing to return their daughter Alice to the UK, leaving her ‘heartbroken and in despair’.
Miss Kennedy said she had her daughter with Mr Thomas after meeting him on an unregulated co-parenting website which aims to match people who want to share the upbringing of a child.
Now she has not seen her daughter for more than four months since he took her on a two-week holiday to the United States, following a long-running dispute over access arrangements for him to see her.
Mr Thomas broke a court agreement by not returning Alice on August 6 to her mother’s home in Gorleston-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
He then flew with Alice from Florida to Dubai on August 21, and is believed to have been with her ever since in the United Arab Emirates city state.
Family Court judges have treated the case as ‘child abduction’ and issued four separate orders for Mr Thomas to bring the youngster home – which have been ignored despite the threat of a fine, imprisonment or seizure of assets if he fails to comply.
Single mother Natalie Kennedy, 43, is pictured with her daughter Alice during happier times
Miss Kennedy said IT consultant Philip Thomas, 54, defied court orders by refusing to return their daughter Alice to the UK, leaving her ‘heartbroken and in despair’
She has not seen her daughter for more than four months since Mr Thomas took Alice on a two-week holiday to the United States
But Miss Kennedy’s bid to have Alice returned is being hampered by the UAE not being part of the Hague Abduction Convention which agrees to quickly return children in tug-of-love cases.
Miss Kennedy claimed Mr Thomas says he has not complied as he is ‘scared’ about the consequences of returning and claims his rights as a father have not been properly taken into account.
Mr Thomas has set up his own website called FairParentingUK and an associate podcast, which he uses to campaign for reforms to the UK’s family courts and what he sees as injustices in the system.
Miss Kennedy, a part time school meals supervisor, is upset that Norfolk Police have done little to help as they regard the case as a civil matter.
Miss Kennedy said Mr Thomas had allowed her to have a handful of Zoom conversations with their daughter who seemed ‘unhappy’ being in Dubai with him.
She added: ‘It is a horrendous situation. I know that she doesn’t want to stay there and she is struggling. She has told me that she wants to come home and she is missing her school and her friends.
‘I am heartbroken and in despair. She was supposed to have her birthday here last August. I have still got all her presents at home, sitting on my floor, and I don’t know if I will ever get to give them to her.
‘Now she has also missed nearly a whole term at school. I have no idea if she is getting any schooling in Dubai.
Miss Kennedy’s bid to have Alice returned is being hampered by the UAE not being part of the Hague Abduction Convention which agrees to quickly return children in tug-of-love cases
Miss Kennedy said Mr Thomas had allowed her to have a handful of Zoom conversations with their daughter who seemed ‘unhappy’ being in Dubai with him
Miss Kennedy said she had her daughter with Mr Thomas after meeting him on an unregulated co-parenting website which aims to match people who want to share the upbringing of a child
‘I love her so much and I am worried that I might never see her again. This whole thing has left me sick with anxiety.
‘I cannot go to work because I am under so much stress and I am isolating myself and not going out. But I am not getting any help from the NHS for the emotional trauma I am going through.
‘He told me that he had been offered a job in Dubai so it looks like he is there to stay. I have no idea where they are living.
‘What really annoys me is that police are not able to get involved. The law needs to be changed so that the failure to return a child is a criminal offence.’
Miss Kennedy said she had Alice with Mr Thomas after meeting him on an unregulated co-parenting website to help match people wanting to share the upbringing of a child.
She said: ‘By the time I was 36, I was single and I wanted to start a family as I was getting older. I subscribed to the website and looked at the profiles of a few men, including Philip.
‘At the time I was living in Bedfordshire, and working as a CCTV operative in Milton Keynes while Philip was saying he was earning a six-figure salary.
‘We decided to meet up, and he told me that he was working in Exeter but was coming back to Hemel Hempstead at the weekends.
Mr Thomas broke a court agreement by not returning Alice on August 6 to her mother’s home in Gorleston-on-Sea, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk
Miss Kennedy last saw her daughter when she dropped her off at school on the last day of term on July 21 this year, allowing Alice’s father to pick her up
‘He seemed to be genuine. We were on the same page with him saying he had everything he needed, but he wanted to have a child.’
She said Mr Thomas invited her on a week-long cruise around Norway in the summer of 2017 so they could ‘get to know each other better’.
They met up again for sex in October 2017 and Miss Kennedy became pregnant.
She recalled: ‘I was happy, but he seemed a bit shocked when I told him because he didn’t think it would happen so quickly.’
Miss Kennedy said she had a series of disagreements with Mr Thomas during her pregnancy but was with her when she gave birth.
Mr Thomas initially paid her around £400 a month maintenance when she was on paid maternity leave and doubled the figure to about £800 after she gave up work to look after Alice.
He continued to visit his daughter every two weeks, and Miss Kennedy allowed him to take Alice to visit his mother in Northampton when she was two months old.
But a breakdown in their relationship led to her insisting that he could not take Alice out alone.
He later withdrew all maintenance, other than a nominal £70 a month as he claimed he had stopped working and could not afford more, Miss Kennedy said.
Miss Kennedy has not seen her daughter for more than four months since he took her on a two-week holiday to the United States
Mr Thomas also went to Bedford County Court where he claimed he wanted his daughter to live with him full time.
A hearing in February 2019 ruled that he could see Alice in meetings at a contact centre as a temporary measure.
Miss Kennedy later moved to Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, to live closer to relatives. Mr Thomas objected, but his bid to block her move failed.
He later reached an agreement with Bedford family court to allow him to collect Alice every other weekend and drive her down to his home in Hemel Hempstead.
It was later agreed that he could have access to Alice for four days every fortnight when he would stay with her in a bed and breakfast in Norfolk, while she was at school on a Thursday and Friday before taking her down to Hertfordshire for the weekend.
He was allowed to take her on holidays to Portugal last December, and to France in March this year, but he insisted that he wanted to take her to America to have ‘a once in a lifetime’ trip to Disney World in Orlando.
A judge at Norwich County Court agreed to the trip at a hearing in April, as long as he gave Miss Kennedy details of their booked return flights.
But Miss Kennedy said that her daughter later revealed how her father had told her that they were going to stay in America.
She added: ‘She also began singing the words ‘Living in America’ from the song which she copied from hearing her father singing.
‘I raised it with social services and they said they could not do anything. Alice was really upset, and one evening she burst into tears in bed and said, ‘I don’t want to live with daddy’.
‘When I emailed her father about it, he just claimed that I was trying to alienate him from her.’
Miss Kennedy of Gorleston-on-Sea, Norfolk, is battling to get her daughter Alice home from Dubai
Miss Kennedy last saw her daughter when she dropped her off at school on the last day of term on July 21 this year, allowing Alice’s father to pick her up.
He and Alice were supposed to fly out from Gatwick two days later but had to get a new flight after she injured her head when a metal object fell on her in a gym, according to medical records seen by her mother.
Miss Kennedy said: ‘I spoke to Alice on Zoom on July 26 after she arrived in Florida to make sure she was OK. I could tell from her face that she was unsure what to say, and she was looking at her father for cues.
‘I spoke to her about four times before she was due to come back. Most of the time she was running around the room and excited because she was going swimming or something.
‘Other times she was fed up and said she wanted to come home. She told me that they had not yet been to Disney World.
‘Her father messaged me on August 2 to say he wanted to stay for another couple of weeks, but I told him to come home with Alice. He then said he was not feeling well and was too ill to fly.
‘I reminded him that Alice had her birthday and a party arranged on August 12, but he was saying he wanted to keep her in America for the whole of the school holiday.’
Miss Kennedy said she asked Orange County Police in Orlando to carry out a welfare check on Alice at the hotel where she was staying with her father.
She also contacted the UK Government’s International Child Abduction and Contact Unit while looking into possibly making a Legal Aid funded application to a court in the US to get Alice home.
But on August 23, the hotel where Alice and her father had been staying told her that they had checked out.
A month later on September 23 the British consulate in Miami established that the father and daughter had flown on an Emirates flight to Dubai on August 21.
Miss Kennedy said she has since been able to contact her daughter via Zoom calls – but has no idea of her location. She added: ‘I have tried to speak to Phil about Alice’s welfare and care but Phil gaslights me and dismisses my concerns.’
Judge Lloyd North, sitting as a deputy high court judge in the Family Court, lifted reporting restrictions which would normally prevent Alice from being identified, so the case can be publicised.
In one of the judgements against Mr Thomas, in September, Judge North ordered Mr Thomas to return Alice to her mother’s care ‘forthwith’, adding: ‘If you disobey this order you may be held to be in contempt of court and may be imprisoned, fined or have your assets seized.’
A Norfolk Constabulary spokeswoman said: ‘We understand how distressing this situation is for Miss Kennedy and we’ve been in regular contact with her and trying to help where we can.
‘While no criminal offence has been committed in these circumstances, due to her ex-partner having consent to take their daughter abroad, we continue to liaise with relevant authorities to assist wherever we can.’
Mr Thomas did not respond to requests for comment.
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