Archive for October, 2014

In a striking example of the pernicious effects of human trafficking, the High Court has had to deal with the fall-out after a 15-year-old gypsy girl was allegedly ‘sold’ by her mother and spirited into Britain for appalling sexual exploitation. The Romanian-born teenager, of Roma descent, lived in Spain with her family until her mother allegedly sold her to a young man when she was aged just 13. He was said to have trafficked her to the UK and to have repeatedly raped and abused her, also forcing her to steal for him, before she eventually escaped his clutches. She had thrown herself on the mercy of a local authority, which placed her in foster care and applied to the Court for a care order. However, a vexed issue arose as to whether she was ‘habitually resident’ in England. If not, ... Read more