IT’S OVER!
Mum-on-the-run hands herself in to the Mail and says: I had to surrender for my little boy’s sake
THE mother on the run with her young son dramatically handed herself in last night after the Daily Mail persuaded her to contact police.
Rebecca Minnock, 35, surrendered after 17 days in hiding and said: ‘My time has run out.’
Moments before she gave herself i n, she tearfully defended her decision to flee with three-year-old Ethan. As her son played with his toys nearby, Miss Minnock said: ‘My only regret would be the trouble my family have gotten into, all the police efforts and time I’ve wasted.
‘ Obviously everyone’s been concerned but we’ve both been absolutely fine.
‘He’s been safe and happy and I don’t have any regrets because I’ve
spent so much more time with him than I would have been able to.
‘I know what everyone has seen in the papers and the news but obviously while all that’s been going on we’ve been having normal, fun times together.
‘He actually thinks we’ve been on holiday. He’s enjoyed his time, he’s managed to go swimming, we’ve been to the parks, we’ve stuck to his normal routine.’
Miss Minnock, who had been hiding out in the Thames Valley area, said she had watched the developments in her case on the news and decided yesterday was the day to hand herself in. She said: ‘I’ve heard today that my mum’s been taken to court and I know it’s not fair to Ethan to keep running with him. He needs to go home; he needs his routine back.
‘It’s been extremely difficult, I’ve considered it every day since we’ve gone.
‘What’s made my mind up is that Ethan has been asking to see my family, he’s been asking to go to his bed back home. I’ve seen the amount of support from neighbours, family and friends, and I hope somebody will be able to help us to get this case looked into again.’
After days of agonising, Miss Minnock decided, during conversations with the Daily Mail, that it was right for her to hand herself in. Mrs Minnock first contacted the Mail by telephone on Thursday, but declined to disclose where she was hiding. Her interview appeared in yesterday’s paper.
Contacting the Mail again yesterday morning, she revealed her whereabouts and was persuaded to meet r eporters nearby. Miss Minnock then asked the Mail to contact Avon and Somerset Police, tell officers of her whereabouts and arrange for her meet them.
Detective Chief Inspector Marie Wright said: ‘I would like to thank the media, in particular the Daily Mail, for their help in locating Ethan and Becky safe and well.’
The sensational twist came after a day of dramatic events in the case which saw the officer leading the hunt for Miss Minnock and a judge make separate appeals to her to give herself up – while neighbours of Ethan’s father called for her to be given custody of the three-year-old and said she had been ‘hunted like an animal’.
Miss Minnock fled her home in Highbridge, Somerset, with Ethan more than two weeks ago following a court order that he should live with his father, Roger Williams. She took off after it was ruled she was obstructing access to her son after she made ‘false’ allegations about his father. Yesterday DCI Wright issued a personal appeal to Miss Minnock, say- ing ‘you don’t have to carry on hiding’ and urging her to contact police. In the two-minute video, DCI Wright said: ‘We know what you’re doing is the best for Ethan because obviously you’re his mum and you’re thinking what is best for him. You’re doing what any mum would in the fact that you believe you’re really protecting him.
‘But I know that you’ve been talking to the media, you talked about how you wanted Ethan to come home. You want him to have contact with his Nanny, with his pets and playing in the garden and I think that’s the best possible outcome and idea. You said that you thought you’re going to be in a huge amount of trouble for what you’ve done, but I want to make sure that you and Ethan are safe.’
Judge Stephen Wildblood QC, said the strain on Miss Minnock must have been ‘immense’.
He told Bristol Crown Court: ‘Family law proceedings are exceptionally stressful for all concerned. Under the stress that arises, people may, wrongly, behave in ways that are impulsive and damaging to the welfare of children.
‘Where a parent does behave in a way that is wrong, it is very important that matters are put right by that parent as soon as possible. The more time that goes by the more emotionally harmful it is for a child to be in the circumstances in which Ethan now finds himself.
‘This mother must not see herself as being backed into a corner because there is a simple solution for her – come forward with Ethan.’
The judge added that the case had also been extremely difficult for Mr Williams, 39, but he had acted appropriately throughout.
But a group of Mr Williams’s neighbours yesterday called for Miss Minnock to be given custody of Ethan. They made a series of allegations against Mr Williams and his conduct during the time he was with her and their split. In an open letter, the seven residents criticised the ‘unfair’ custody battle which left Miss Minnock with no right to see her son and said she ‘has been served an unforgivable injustice’.
Neighbour and friend Jan Worgan, 76, said: ‘Rebecca is a lovely person and she proved to be a very good mother. She is there trying to look after her boy and she’s being hunted down like an animal.’
A close friend of Rebecca, who wished to remain anonymous said: “She’s a lovely girl and Ethan was always happy. She’s been let down. A mother takes care of their child from the moment they are born. Rebecca did nothing wrong as a mother or partner and the child should stay with her.’