Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
BILLIONAIRE KIDNAPPER
Queen’s friend loses bid to keep court allegations under wraps
switched off the light, it was pitch black. They would make sounds to harass me, and come in the middle of the night to pull me out of bed to beat me.”
The Sheikh’s behaviour towards his wife changed after she began to show interest in Shamsa and Latifa, the judgment stated. It was this that made her decide her position in Dubai was “wholly unsafe and untenable”, the judge found.
The princess, represented by Baroness Fiona Shackleton, applied for their children to be made wards of court and a non-molestation order for her protection.
Charles Geekie, for Princess Haya, said: “Her Royal Highness has existed in an environment of significant psychological, social and emotional pressure.”
In her evidence, the princess described “one of the longest and most frightening days” last year when a helicopter landed outside her house and a pilot said he had come to take one passenger “to Awir”, apparently the site of a desert prison.
During the trial it was revealed the Sheikh had written a poem to her that included the line: “I care not whether you live or die.” Sir Andrew found the line was
“an express and public removal of any cloak of protection from the mother”.
In a statement after the judgments were published, Sheikh Mohammed said his appeal to prevent reporting was “made to protect the best interests and welfare of the children”. He added: “As a head of government, I was not able to participate in the court’s fact-finding process. This has resulted in the release of a ‘fact-finding’ judgment which inevitably only tells one side of the story.”
QUOTED TELLING OFTREATMENT