A father who threatened to kill a High Court judge has been jailed for contempt of court after repeatedly refusing to return his abducted daughter.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is believed to have entered the UK illegally before being granted asylum. He is accused of showing “complete contempt for the court and its processes” during a long-running legal battle with the child’s mother.
The nine-year-old girl was seized at gunpoint by a relative of the father at an airport in Iran in January last year, after she and her mother had travelled there together. They have had no contact since.
At previous hearings, the father threw heavy-based microphones, shouted, used threatening body language and threatened to kill people — including a judge — prompting the presence of security guards. On Wednesday, he refused to enter the London courtroom or give evidence in his defence.
Mrs Justice Lieven sentenced him to six months in prison, calling the term “the only hope” of securing the child’s return and describing the abduction as “an act of extreme cruelty.” The mother and daughter had joined the father legally in the UK in 2023.
