14 DAY TRIAL // Jennifer Jones of Llanelli, Wales went into hiding 5 days ago, taking her 4 children, aged between 8 and 14, with her. Reports confirm she has been found in the Gwent area, 50 miles away from her hometown.
Dyfed Powys Police have put Jones under arrest for abducting her children, and have also charged partner John Williams for the same offence.
Jennifer Jones had lost custody of her kids during her divorce, in 2008, in the Spanish Canary Islands, from Colonel Tomas Palacin Cambra, Daily Mail informs.
Jones has argued extensively in court that the father of the children was abusive towards her and her family. Her claims have been backed up by family members that have confirmed that the children wanted to live with their mother.
She had had the children come to Wales for their summer vacation, but had already begun legal proceedings to gain back custody, before fleeing with them, which was in clear violation of a court order.
In an extraordinary turn of events, her four children had hand-written notes delivered to the judge ruling over their mother's case, in which they attest to the physical abuse.
"He had and does hit us, my brothers and sisters. […] I'm scared of going back to Spain with my dad. […] My dad has a very bad temper, he hits us all especially my two brothers and me. […] to my younger brother David, he hits him and gets angry with him; often he has smacked him on the bum and back, has grabbed his face, smacked his head, pushed him against the wall and the floor, and made him cry a lot," the oldest, 14-year-old Jessica, writes.
Jennifer Jones argues that she was just looking after the best interest of the children by taking them away from their father.
"In the house they were living in [in Spain] they wrote all over the walls: 'We want to live in Wales'. [...] I did this to protect them, they don't want to go back to Spain. I love them – as a mum what else can I do?," the woman said.
