MONTREAL – A British mother who allegedly abducted her daughter and brought her to Canada will be extradited to the United Kingdom — ending the woman’s three-year, multi-country journey.
Police allege Helen Gavaghan kidnapped her daughter in 2008, a high-profile case that kicked off searches in Mexico, the United States and Canada.
The hunt ended Sept. 16, when police arrested Gavaghan in Montreal and reunited the seven-year-old girl, Pearl, with her father in Manchester, England.
Gavaghan appeared in a Montreal courtroom on Friday and consented to her own extradition. The order is expected to be carried out as soon as it’s signed by Canada’s justice minister.
Her lawyer and her Canadian friends say she wants leave the country quickly, so she can be closer to her daughter.
The Quebec Superior Court judge asked the mother Friday if she was sure she did not want to fight extradition to the U.K., where she faces a charge of child abduction.
“That’s right,” replied Gavaghan, whose dark hair had been dyed blond. The woman had also been using false names for herself and her daughter over the last three years to evade authorities.
In recent days, Gavaghan has also been trying to get her side of the story into the media.
Her Canadian supporters issued a news release Friday and made an online blog posting of what they say is a transcript of a statement she dictated to them Thursday over the phone from jail.
In the lengthy dispatch, Gavaghan alleges she and her daughter had no choice but to flee an abusive situation with the girl’s father, Henry Da Massa.
The father, who had joint custody of the child, has denied in published reports ever abusing Gavaghan or Pearl.
A handful of Gavaghan’s friends, some with their kids, also showed up Friday at the Montreal courthouse to support the woman.
Gavaghan scanned the
... read the rest, if you wish , at article source
