Leicestershire mum will not be prosecuted by US authorities for 'abducting' children

[Alison J Stevens]

Leicestershire mum will not be prosecuted by US authorities for 'abducting' children

< Previous 1 2 Next >

Claire McNulty

By adrian troughton

A mother who was facing up to 10 years in jail after being accused by US authorities of illegally taking her own children out of the country will not now be prosecuted.

Claire McNulty has been told by the American prosecution team that the three criminal charges of second degree interfering with custody she was facing are to be dismissed.

Claire, 38, of Thurmaston, said: "It is fantastic news. I am so glad they have removed this threat from above my head.

"It has been difficult to concentrate on anything because of the uncertainty of this."

Police in America and then the UK began an investigation after Claire took her daughter and two sons to live with her parents in Thurmaston on September 7, without the permission of their American father.

She has not seen Meghan, nine, Liam, six and three-year-old Andrew since they were taken to Heathrow Airport by her mother and sister on January 4.

This was after a ruling in the High Court that they should be returned to their father.

The former bank customer services adviser said she was now going to focus on getting a job and saving enough money to fly to America to try to get access to her children through the courts.

Recalling the last time she saw her children, Claire said: "The last time I saw my children we all spent the night in a single bed at my parents' house. I didn't sleep at all. I just lay there cuddling them and staring at their faces.

"The next day I told my eldest, Meghan, never to forget that I loved her and her brothers and would never stop fighting to see them again one day.

"I asked her to keeping reminding herself and her brothers that I was always thinking of them and that I did not want them to leave."

She added: "I've not heard a word or had any contact with my children since January 4 but I will never give up hope of seeing them again.

"I have their pictures on my mobile phone and I carry that everywhere with me and look at them every day. That way I feel they are with me always.

"My aim is to get enough money together for me to get over to America before the end of the year. That would be a fantastic Christmas present for me and keep alive my dream of being a mother again to my children."

Claire taking the children out of America put her in breach of the Hague Convention – an international agreement under which abducted children are returned to their country of birth.

The three charges brought by the Essex County Prosecutor at a court in New Jersey carry a penalty of between five and 10 years in prison.

Katherine Carter, spokeswoman for the Essex County Prosecutor's Office, said: "An Essex County Grand Jury indicted the mother on three counts of second degree interference with custody.

"However, we have decided to dismiss the charges and respect the terms of the Hague Convention. Under the terms of that agreement, the father agreed not to pursue criminal charges against the mother."