Re Sabah Jabar Abdulah (Committal for Contempt of Court)

Deliberate and flagrant breaches of family orders, including facilitating or maintaining the unlawful retention of abducted children, may justify imprisonment for contempt. The contemnor’s prompt admissions may be mitigating, but the seriousness of the breaches and the need to mark their gravity remain central to sentence. A custodial sentence may be suspended where the contemnor offers assistance towards securing the children’s return, subject to activation if further breaches occur. The court may also use its inherent jurisdiction to restrict departure from the jurisdiction during the proceedings and support that restriction with a port alert.

The mother abducted children from England and retained them in Iraq in breach of location and other orders. The first respondent admitted knowingly breaching three orders by applying for a further Iraqi passport, failing to notify the Tipstaff of the mother and children’s whereabouts, and having contact with the children in Iraq.

The court determined the appropriate punishment for contempt and made additional protective and case-management orders concerning departure from the jurisdiction.

1. The admitted breaches were deliberate and flagrant. Applying for a second Iraqi passport while the first passport was held by the Tipstaff, failing to notify the Tipstaff of the children’s whereabouts, and having contact with the children in Iraq were each treated as serious breaches.

2. The court was satisfied to the criminal standard that imprisonment was the only appropriate penalty. The contemnor’s prompt admissions were taken into account in mitigation, but the court had little confidence in the truthfulness of the contemnor’s subsequent evidence.

3. The shortest custodial term that could properly be imposed was 18 months. The sentence was suspended for two years because the contemnor had offered to assist the local authority and the Children’s Guardian in securing the children’s return. Any further breach of an order could activate the suspended sentence, in addition to any penalty imposed for the further breach.

4. As an additional case-management measure, the court exercised the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court to prohibit the contemnor from leaving the jurisdiction for the duration of the proceedings. A port alert was also directed so that an attempted departure would result in detection and arrest.