Parents accused of abandoning their 14-year-old son at a boarding school in Ghana over fears of gang involvement in London have been granted permission to leave him there, a judge has ruled.
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The teenager took legal action against his parents, seeking to return to his home in London, and claimed they had “physically and emotionally abandoned” him.
His parents suspected he had become involved with a gang, but his lawyers described him as “very polite and articulate” with a strong interest in football and cooking.
The boy, who remains unnamed for legal reasons, contacted the British Consulate and a child welfare organization after his parents enrolled him at the school and flew back to England without him.
He alleged that his parents misled him, saying they were traveling to care for an ill relative, and packed only a few of his belongings.
He further claimed that he is receiving “inadequate” food and education at the school and is being “mistreated.”
Despite his efforts to return home, Mr Justice Hayden ruled that the teenager “is at real risk of suffering greater harm in returning to the UK than if he were to remain in Ghana.”
“I recognize that this is, in many ways, both a sobering and rather depressing conclusion,” the judge stated, adding that the decision to send the boy abroad fell within “the generous ambit of parental decision taking.”
This ruling was made even though the court acknowledged that the boy’s home was in London and that his views “should be afforded significant weight.”
Barrister Amean Elgadhy of 4PB, representing parties in the case, remarked: “This case is interesting because in this instance, it was accepted that the boy’s home was in London, but they decided he should remain in Ghana anyway.
“It highlights the very real risks of potential gang involvement in London, and it directly engages the tensions between the rights of the child and the views of the parents.”
The High Court heard evidence that the teenager had a history of poor school attendance, displayed aggression, and was vulnerable to grooming. There were also allegations of phone theft and concerning Snapchat conversations.
Rebecca Foulkes, representing the boy’s father, stated that social workers had previously raised concerns about difficulties in managing the boy’s behavior before he left the UK. “In trying to manage them, the mother was using physical aggression on occasion to do so,” she said.
Social workers reported that the boy was frequently late to class, sometimes stayed out late, and had been observed wearing expensive clothes and possessing multiple phones. His school also expressed “suspicions about him engaging in criminal activities.”
Ms. Foulkes added: “From the father’s perspective, there was a clear deterioration in his son’s behaviours with a move towards criminal behaviours.
“There is no real acceptance from him of the risks to which he was exposing himself.”
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