London - A 13-year-old boy who lived rough in London as a beggar rather than obey a court order to return to his father in the US yesterday won a new hearing to put his case for staying in England. The American boy, who ran away when he was being taken to meet his wealthy father at Heathrow Airport, wants to stay in Britain with his mother and 10-year-old sister, the Court of Appeal was told.
He has now won the right to be represented at a High Court hearing at which he will argue that a child's wishes must be taken into consideration when a parent wins an order under the Hague Convention.
Mr Justice Sumner ordered in February that the boy was normally resident in the US and should be returned to his father under the convention rules. But yesterday Lady Justice ButlerSloss, who said the boy was "troubled" by the conflict between his divorced parents and claims to have attempted suicide, gave him the chance to establish that he was mature enough to make up his own mind about where he lives.