Father gets 4 years for abduction
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.(First Edition)
A MAN who bound and gagged his daughter's mother before fleeing with the child to the United States was jailed for four years at the Old Bailey yesterday.
Bernard Downes, 30, a social worker, hired a female accomplice to help him defy a court order and gain custody of his three-year-old daughter, Judge Brian Smedley was told. They posed as police officers to trick their way into the child's home and trussed up her mother.
The judge said it was 'one of the most extraordinary cases' he had heard and told Downes, who has a psychology degree and a PhD in social studies: 'You deliberately, with your education, skill and contacts, set out to abduct your daughter and in the course of that treated her mother appallingly.'
Peter Walsh, for the prosecution, said handcuffs were attached to the woman's hands and ankles, and ropes forced her into an agonising arched-back position.
Two months earlier, a High Court judge had denied Downes access to the child after hearing about his violence.
The woman - a psychologist - cannot be named to protect her daughter. She and her daughter were reunited after Downes was arrested in Philadelphia.
He admitted abduction and false imprisonment, but his denial of kidnapping was accepted. Downes was living in Homerton, east London, at the time.
Mirza Rashid, for Downes, said that he acted out of desperation. The other bogus police officer, Karen Counsel, 27, had been given an 18-month suspended sentence last April.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments