Trapped with a tyrant
Nightmare of mum banned from flying home by her ex
A mum has been warned she’ll be arrested if she tries to return to Scotland with herh children.
Paula Cl i fford, 31,31 is desperate to leave CyprusCyp and escape a troub troubled relationship withw I ranian Al i Re za Poor Akbar, known as Alex.
The 39-year-old has been deported twice but still secured a court order preventing Paula leaving.
He is due in court charged with an arson attack and domestic abuse.
Paula said: “I just want to come home.”
A Scots mum in Cyprus who accuses her ex-partner of violence and threats has told how he is using local law to trap her and her children on the island.
Bodybuilder Ali Reza Poor Akbar, known as Alex, has allegedly terrorised Paula Clifford for years.
He is due in court tomorrow to face two claims of domestic abuse – and a charge of burning down a pub where she worked.
But Paula can’t f ly home to get away from Akbar because he obtained a legal order putting their daughter Alexa, five, on a “stop list”.
It means Paula will be arrested if she tries to take her child out of the country, so she must stay in Cyprus with Alexa and older daughter Calli, nine, from a previous relationship.
“I feel trapped and intimidated,” Paula said. “I’m an EU citizen yet Alex has been allowed to make my life a misery.
“I’m in fear for my safety. Please someone, help me.
“Alex doesn’t want custody of our daughter. The ‘stop list’ is just a way of punishing me.”
Akbar, 39, is an asylum seeker from Iran. He was deported in 2005 but returned to Cyprus.
He lived illegally on the island until Paula made a domestic violence complaint against him. He was then detained by police and deported for a second time in October 2014. But Akbar returned to Cyprus again, and has been able to use the law to trap Paula despite his immigration record.
Glasgow- born Paula moved to Cyprus in 2004 and met Akbar five years later.
She said: “I’d just broken up with Calli’s dad and I was vulnerable. I don’t usuallylly like bodybuilder types but he was charming and showed an interest in me even though I alreadyready had a child.
“But he was the worst mistake off my life. He was so jealousous and control l ing.ng. I finally pluckedcked up the couragerage to leave himim in 2013, butut I ’ m st il l a prisoner.”
Paula i s set too testify against Akbar thiss week whenn he appearsrs i n cou r t in Famagusta.a.
As well as the claims of domestic abuse, he iss accused of setting firee to the Luke Kelly Irish Bar in Ayia Napa in 2011.11.
Paula saidd she tried to tell local policelice about the fire,fire but was ignored. She claimscla she was only taken serse iously when she contactedco officers in the capital,ca Nicosia. She also cla imed policepo failed to help her lastlas year when she asked themthe to remove Akbar from outside her home. “TheTh scariest thing is that they ignoredig my emergency calls,” shesh said. “I was phoning,p crying and begging butbu nobody came. I made an official ccomplaint.” East RenfrewshireRen MP Kirsten Oswald hasha taken up Paula’s case and writtwritten to Foreign Secretary Boris JohnsonJoh on her behalf. She said: “I ’m advised that Ms Clifford is living in fear of her former partner.
“I understand he has subjected her to repeated domestic abuse and threats, which have been documented.
“With his history of criminality and violence, it is clear Mr Akbar presents a credible threat to Ms Clifford and her young daughters.”
But in a reply to Oswald, Foreign Office Minister Alan Duncan said they could not “interfere with another country’s legal processes” to help Paula.
He added: “I understand a hearing is due to take place on March 28 about removing the stop file on the passport of her daughter Alexa. I would like to reassure you that consular staff are in regular contact with Ms Clifford and continue to offer her assistance.”
Ayia Napa police chief Detective Inspector Paris Paraskeva insisted his force have done everything possible to help Paula. He said: “We spent hundreds of hours on this case, maybe a thousand, and investigated all the reports.
“But I can’t say anything about the case. This is a matter before the court with suspects.”
Akbar did not respond to our requests for comment.