D v G

Facts

The applicant father is a 32-year-old French national living in France; the respondent mother, also 32, has dual French and British nationality. Their daughter K was born in France on 3 April 2022 and is now 4 years and 3 months old. The parents' relationship broke down in February 2023, and the mother and K moved to the maternal grandparents' home in June 2023. The mother stopped contact in August 2023 and reported the father to the police, alleging controlling and aggressive behaviour towards her, including strangulation and a threat with a knife, and rough or negligent treatment of K; the father denied the allegations, save that he admitted punching a hole in a wall. The father applied in France in October 2023 for joint custody; a judgment of 21 December 2023 provided that K live with her mother, with supervised contact moving to unsupervised. In September 2024 the mother, her husband and K moved to England without the father's consent, though he was always told where K lived. A French judgment of 5 December 2024 maintained K's living with her mother, but a further judgment following a hearing on 13 November 2025, at which the mother did not appear, ordered that K live with her father. The mother applied in England for a child arrangements order and, in January 2026, for a declaration of habitual residence and a transfer of jurisdiction. The father applied on 16 March 2026 for K's summary return to France under the 1980 Hague Convention, more than 18 months after the removal.