Mother And Son Went Hiding After Judge Ruled Father Should Have Full Custody

Members of the same family have been arrested after a woman and her three-year-old son went into hiding after a judge ruled the boy should be handed over to his father. Rebecca Minnock, 35, fled her home in Highbridge, Somerset, with her son Ethan two weeks ago following a court order that he should live with his father, Roger Williams.

Now a judge has accused her mother, brother and sister of helping Ms Minnock to hide.
Police appealed for help tracing the mother and child but could not reveal the circumstances behind their disappearance due to reporting restrictions in such cases.
However today in a highly unusual step Judge Stephen Wildblood allowed the full facts to be reported to help find Ethan and reunite him with his father. The judge was speaking at Bristol Crown Court, where Ms Minnock's brother Marvin Shaw, sister Limmie Shaw and mother Louise Minnock appeared before him.

Mr Shaw, Miss Shaw and Mrs Minnock, who were all arrested on Sunday, are accused of withholding information that could lead to Ms Minnock and Ethan being located.
Judge Wildblood told the court: 'Any assistance by the press in finding out where he is will be gratefully received. 'It is really important that we work together - the court and the press - to find where this child is.'  The judge said the family members would face charges including contempt of court and perjury if they were not 'candid' in what they knew about Ethan and his mother.

Ethan, who was born in January 2012, has lived with his mother since his parents separated in February 2013.
Legal proceedings started between the parents in March 2013, when Mr Williams applied for contact with Ethan. On May 27 this year a district judge ruled Ethan should live with Mr Williams after finding that Ms Minnock had made false allegations and obstructed contact between father and son.

Ms Minnock then left her home in Highbridge with Ethan and has not been seen since, despite a police investigation and campaign by Mr Williams to find his son. Meanwhile Ms Minnock's family have launched their own campaign, insisting Ms Minnock has been treated unfairly and 'let down' by social services, police and the courts.

In one Facebook post aimed at Mr Williams, Mr Shaw wrote: 'She's not missing. I know where they both are. And they are both very safe now and just to let you know because I know you are reading this.' Mr Shaw later insisted the message was meant to show his anger towards Mr Williams and denied knowing the whereabouts of Miss Minnock and Ethan. Ms Shaw has started an online petition - which has 1,431 signatures - and a Facebook group to support her sister. Both she and Mrs Minnock deny any knowledge of Ethan's location.

The petition claims Ms Minnock and Mr Williams were engaged in a 'two-year bitter court battle' for custody of their son. 

The judge said: 'The family members must be entirely candid about any information that they have. 'I have warned if there's any untruthfulness at this stage then it would be perjury. The stakes are now exceptionally high. 'We need to make sure that this child is found.'

Mr Shaw, from Highbridge, told the court he did not know where Miss Minnock and Ethan were but said he had received three phone calls from her.

The phone calls, from a withheld number to his mobile phone, were short and Miss Minnock simply stated they were 'safe and well', he said. 'I just know that if my sister is with her little boy I know that she is keeping him safe,' Mr Shaw said. 'I think if they weren't safe she would have come back.'

Mr Shaw said he believed the court order was a 'serious injustice' and he had urged his sister to appeal against it. 'I do think the authorities have failed her,' he told the judge. 'I think she can't flee forever, you are going to find her eventually. I don't think she has had a fair hearing by any means.

'I just don't understand how the psychiatrist's report, the social services report came back that she was a good mother, she didn't have a mental disorder but they have still continued to want to take the child from her.

'That is a massive injustice.'

Source: Mail Online