A man who fled to Asia with a five-year-old boy and stayed there for a decade has been convicted of abduction and jailed for 21 months.
Scott Forbes’ actions deprived the child’s mother of contact with her son for 10 years and caused “unquantifiable” harm, Aberdeen Sheriff Court was told.
The 62-year-old applied for a passport for the boy without her knowledge and flew him out of the country in secret from Aberdeen International Airport in 2012.
Forbes – who was arrested at Edinburgh Airport upon his return to Scotland last year – claimed he had taken the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, over concerns for his welfare.
Fiscal depute Brian Young said Forbes told the boy’s family that they were going on a trip to the west coast of Scotland.
Request to extradite accused was refused
However, the following day, April 8 2012, he flew the young boy out of Aberdeen to Kuala Lumpur, via Heathrow Airport.
Forbes then sent a letter to his father explaining what he had done and that he was “sorry for the upset his actions would cause”.
A police investigation established that Forbes had indeed left the country with the child as they began efforts to trace the boy.
“A large number of agencies were involved in this investigation, both in the UK and the Philippines, where it was subsequently established that the accused had settled,” Mr Young said.
“A request to extradite the accused from the Philippines was refused due to a lack of dual criminality.”
Mum found birthdays ‘especially painful’
Mr Young said that Forbes sent a number of pictures of the boy to his mother but never stated where they were living.
Forbes also informed the police that he had removed the child due to concerns over the mother’s new partner, adding that he would keep the boy in the Philippines until he turned 16.
Forbes voluntarily returned to the UK with the child in July last year, where he was immediately arrested at Edinburgh Airport.
The fiscal depute spoke of the “terrible sadness” felt by the boy’s mother at having been kept apart from him for 10 years.
He said: “She suffered significant emotional distress due to the absence of her son.
“She reports finding his birthdays and other milestones to be especially painful as she was missing his grow-up during his formative years.
“She felt unable to move from the area because she maintained a hope that her son would one day return home to live with her.”
The mother and her 15-year-old son were reunited in July last year.
Mum has forgiven accused for his actions
Describing his client’s actions as “extremely serious”, solicitor John Hardie told the court Forbes acted out of concern.
“Mr Forbes was desperate and that’s why he took the boy out of the country and away from his mother,” he said.
“This offence was committed in the genuine belief that it was in the best interests of the child.
“But he has had 10 years away from his mother and that’s the harm caused by Mr Forbes.”
Mr Hardie said the boy does not feel negatively impacted by what has happened and the boy’s mother has now forgiven Forbes.
“She does not wish to see him in prison,” he added.
Sheriff Morag McLaughlin told Forbes he had committed an offence of the “utmost seriousness”.
She added: “The harm caused must be unquantifiable in depriving a mother of her son during his childhood years.
“The pain that this must have caused will be accurately reflected in your sentence.”
Sheriff McLaughlin sentenced Forbes, of Victoria Road, Broughty Ferry, to a total of 21 months in prison.
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