Long abduction ends

Press, 10 November 1980, Page 4

Long abduction ends

.An English father abducted his two children seven years ago after a holiday in Majorca and took them to New Zealand, where he spent three years working as an accountant for Dominion Breweries in Christchurch, a London court was told yesterday, the Press Association reports. For the last four years the children, with their father, Thomas Hawkes, aged 45; have been living in Hampshire. 16km from their remarried mother, Jacquelyn Hawkins, in Surrey. Mrs Hawkins wept tears of joy when Mr Justice Eastham told her yesterday she was to be reunited with her son, Geoffrey, aged 15, and daughter, Linda, aged 13.

His Honour said that after being permitted to

take the children on holiday to Majorca in July, 1973, Mr Hawkes disappeared with them. Court orders for his arrest, searches by the police and the High Court, and publicity in the press failed to find them.

“Since then this unfortunate mother has known nothing about the whereabouts of the children or even whether they were alive,” his Honour said.

“He took it upon himself to go to New Zealand with them and worked there in an accountancy capacity for a brewery for three years. He returned to Britain in 1976." In his Honour’s view, taking the children to New Zealand was "flatly against their best interests.”

The children were dis-

covered recently after renewed publicity in British newspapers. The police had a telephone call from a member of the public which led them to the Hampshire address where the children were living with their father. His Honour said that Mr Hawkes, though ••plainly guilty of a very serious contempt of court,” would not be jailed. Mrs Hawkins recognised that to send him to prison would probably have a detrimental effecton on the children.

Since hearing about their mother’s bid to get them back, Geoffrey Hawkes had said he would prefer to stav with his father while Linda Hawkes’ reaction was that she would like to live with her mother, his Honour said.