Return of child to Poland refused due to grave risk arising from father’s conduct and child’s objections

The High Court refused a father's application for the immediate return of his eight-year-old daughter to Poland under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. The court found that, although the child was retained in Ireland at the end of an agreed holiday period, there was a grave risk that returning her to her father's custody would expose her to physical or psychological harm. This conclusion was based on video evidence of the father's inappropriate conduct—entering his sleeping daughter's bed naked—as well as unresolved concerns about his judgement and boundaries. The child's own objections to returning, grounded in her experiences of fear and lack of emotional security while in her father's care, were also considered and given significant weight. The court determined that no proposed or evidentially supported safeguards or interim protective measures in Poland could mitigate these risks, and so return was refused pending further resolution or evidence of change.