A Diplomat Threatens To Kill His New Born Grandchild

A foreign diplomat threatened to kill his grandchild after his unmarried teenage daughter gave birth, the High Court has heard.

The man, a diplomat until May this year from a Commonwealth country, has since left the country, leaving his daughter in the care of a local authority.

The matter came to court because of issues involving diplomatic immunity - the Diplomatic Privileges Act 1964 states that "the person of a diplomatic agent shall be inviolable" and immunity extends to family members "forming part of his household".

The local authority feared the girl - now almost 17 - and her baby were at "serious risk" of physical and emotional harm and wanted court orders to provide the pair with a home and adequate protection.


Family Division judge Mrs Justice Pauffley said the case raised the question whether the father's diplomatic status prevented the English courts from making orders intervening.

The teenager, the judge said, had not been part of her father's household since November last year when she was offered the local authority accommodation.

The young mother, who had spent time in hospital suffering mental health problems, was "essentially abandoned to the care of the local authority" when the rest of her family left the UK in May this year, Justice Pauffley revealed.

The girl's very firmly expressed wishes" to remain in the UK meant the police were put on alert in case her family tried to take her out of the country.

The judge declared in her ruling that neither mother nor child was subject to diplomatic immunity and the court did have the right to rule it was lawful for the local authority to provide both with accommodation under the 1989 Act.

The girl came to the UK in early September 2013 with her parents, but was admitted to hospital in March last year because of mental health problems where she stayed for several months although returning for visits to her parents' home.

It was during that time that the local authority asked the High Commission to which the diplomat was attached to waive diplomatic immunity and allow it to help the girl and her child.

While, the High Commission agreed to allow an assessment it did not respond to requests for the waiver to be extended.

The young mother had been in local authority accommodation since mid-November because her parents did not want her home after she was discharged from hospital, "largely, so it would seem, as the result of their attitude towards her pregnancy and the birth of her child".

The local authority, who said her father had wanted the girl to have an abortion and then go abroad for an arranged marriage, revealed it was given information in April that the father was planning to go back to his home country, taking the family back with him.

The local authority applied for court orders to ensure mother and child, who were being looked after in a foster placement, were not removed from the UK.