Girl taken from mum on slopes
Mother breaches court order to take her daughter on holiday, then police find them on Whakapapa ski slopes
• A young girl who had been on the run with her mother for four days was uplifted by authorities at the Whakapapa ski field.
• The mother lost custody of the daughter more than a year ago but took the girl out of school earlier this month — sparking a search.
• When the mother and her daughter were finally found, they were on the ski slopes at Mt Ruapehu. The girl told her mother: “Why do I have to go?”
• The girl’s grandfather, who has day-to-day care of her, said the girl was taken from school against a court order. “This whole thing is a travesty,” he said.
Ayoung girl who had been on the run with her mother for four days was located by authorities at Whakapapa ski field last week, the Herald on Sunday can reveal.
The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, lost custody of her daughter more than a year ago. She took the girl from school for the skiing holiday, breaching a court order. “I was desperate,” the mother said. Video footage supplied to the Herald on Sunday showed two police officers at Whakapapa trudging through the snow, following the mother and her daughter.
The girl was crying and pleading: “Why do I have to go? Please, Mummy, don’t let them take me away. No, no, no, I don’t want to go.”
“I told my daughter I loved her,” the mother told the Herald on Sunday. “Even the social workers had tears in their eyes and the female police officer said, ‘I’m sorry, this is wrong’.”
She is speaking publicly, she said, because she believes the family court system is “utterly broken”.
The girl’s grandfather, who has day-to-day care of her, told the Herald on Sunday he had no idea where she had gone.
“This poor little girl, she was absolutely distraught, she should not have been subjected to this ordeal, it’s terrible,” he said.
“This whole thing is a travesty. Here’s a little girl enjoying herself in the snow and then she’s taken away by the police and two social workers. She doesn’t know what’s going on. You would think any mother would have thought of the ramifications.”
Early last year, the mother was embroiled in an acrimonious custody dispute with her former partner and his parents.
“The primary allegation was I was using methamphetamine but I have been able to squash that over and over again with numerous drug tests,” she said.
Her house had been broken into and a P-pipe and an empty bag with traces of methamphetamine were discovered by police.
The mother is adamant she has never taken drugs and said the drug paraphernalia was not hers. She was never charged with any offences and had drug tests which were negative.
Video footage and photos seen by the Herald on Sunday appear to show the woman’s ex-boyfriend holding a P pipe, and her daughter’s father licking a cannabis plant.
When police discovered the paraphernalia in the house, the girl’s grandfather applied to the courts for day-to-day care.
“He came over with a policeman and claimed, ‘We have a warrant to take [the girl] for day-to-day care and it will only last a couple of weeks’,” the mother said.
“But in a legal parenting agreement
in 2019, it stated we would have a meeting, go into mediation, and then go to court to finalise everything but he went straight to the courts.
“I am not fighting the father, I am fighting the grandfather. He is wealthy and has a lot of power,” the mother said.
The mother claimed she wasn’t allowed to see her daughter for eight months because of court delays.
“I missed her birthday, I wasn’t there for her first day at school, and I missed out on her losing her two baby teeth. I am her mother, her legal guardian, but I don’t have day-to-daycare — it’s unfair and heartbreaking.”
The mother, a teacher, said she has the support of her students, their parents, and her employer, but is not trusted to care for her own daughter.
“My partner, his ex, and their wider family trust me with their three children, [my employer] is fully aware of what’s going on. I said to them, ‘if you don’t think I am a safe person then please fire me’.”
When the mother was told by the Family Court judge it was going to take another six months for him to make a decision about who should have primary care for the child, she became desperate, she said.
She meticulously planned the day she would take her daughter from school and discussed the idea of a holiday with her daughter the week before she took her.
“I emailed them informing them [the girl] was in safe hands. I had preplanned it; I’d met the teacher the day before.
“I told my daughter we were away for a week. I said, ‘If you want to come with Mummy that’s fine you can come, but if you don’t that’s okay so I’ll give you a hug and a kiss. She jumped and said, ‘Mum, let’s go.’ ”
The mother was entitled to supervised visits with her daughter every two weeks.
“We sit in a cold, dark room where I am supervised on a playdate with my daughter,” the mother said. “I am not allowed to discuss anything about my daughter’s emotions. I have recordings of her saying how unsafe she felt.
“The last time she whispered in my ear, ‘Mummy, I don’t want to do this anymore’.”
The grandfather said supervised visits stopped because the mother had issues with all the supervisors.
In a reserved judgment, an interim contact parenting order was made for the girl to spend up to one week of each school holiday period in the care of her father, who lives overseas, subject to certain conditions.
The woman met the father’s child overseas. She came back to New Zealand with her daughter and the father remained overseas.
“I have a recording of the father saying I am a fantastic mother, that he loved me and would never do anything to hurt me.
“I want the grandfather to back off. He’s all about power, money and control. She is a beautiful girl with incredible confidence. She’s been put into a traumatic situation where her father and mother can’t care for her. An elderly grandfather and an old step-grandmother who has never had children have the care for my daughter. She is isolated from her friends and isolated from life. She has told me she is scared. It’s disgusting.”
The mother was in daily communication with the police, sending videos and photos to prove the girl was happy and safe.
When the police and social workers turned up on the mountain the mother was tempted to do another “runner”, she said, but she decided against it because she knew it was wrong and felt she has made her point with the authorities.
“We discussed it as a family, I knew what the implications were. I think I’ve made enough noise now so many people will find a voice in what I am doing. Hopefully, we can create change in the family court to recognise what it is doing is wrong and not in the best interests of the children.
“It’s like you are living in a small box screaming at the top of your lungs, ‘where have I gone wrong?’ I question myself every day.”
On Friday, the grandfather made a protection order against the mother and her partner.
He said: “Every mother should be with her child but you need to find out the full circumstances in this case. I have never felt such a strong emotion, I am highly upset at the mental state my granddaughter is in.
“Everyone should stop pulling each other apart and think about this poor little girl.”
I missed her birthday, I wasn’t there for her first day at school, and I missed out on her losing her two baby teeth. Mother