Kidnapping
False imprisonment is a crime at common law. False imprisonment is the unlawful and total restraint of a person’s liberty followed by constraining them or compelling them to go to a particular place or by confining them at a prison or other place or by detaining them against their will in a public place.
The act is the unlawful restriction of another’s freedom without having a legal right to do so. This must be done with the intention to restrain the other person, deliberately or recklessly. A person may be detained physically or by fear. The victim’s fear must arise from the defendant’s intentional or reckless act.
The offence is triable on indictment with imprisonment of up to life and/or an unlimited fine.
Kidnapping is an offence at common law. Kidnapping occurs where a person is taken or carried away by force or fraud without the consent of that person and without lawful excuse. Fraud may include a trick or deception. The person must be deprived of their liberty by the kidnapper.
The consent of the DPP is required for a prosecution in relation to the kidnapping of a child under 16 by a parent or custodian.
The Child Abduction NI Order 1985
A person connected with a child under 16 commits the offence of child abduction if they take or send a child out of the United Kingdom without the appropriate consent. A person connected with a child includes the parents, guardian, special guardian.
It also includes a person in whose favour a residence order is enforced or a person who has custody of the child. In the case of a child whose parents are not married at the time of birth, where there are reasonable grounds for believing that a person concerned is the father.
Taking includes inducing the child to accompany the person.
The required consents mean the consent of each of the following:
- The child’s mother
- The child’s father if he has parental responsibility
- Any guardian or special guardian, any person in whose favour a residence order is made in respect of the child
- Any person who has custody of the child.
Alternatively, a court order may be granted.
There are various defences subject to conditions. Some of these cover where court orders or child care orders are in place. It is a defence if there is a belief that the person has consented or would consent if they were aware of the relevant circumstances, or if reasonable steps have been taken to communicate with the person but have been unsuccessful, or if the other person has unreasonably refused to consent.
It is an offence for a person, without lawful authority or reasonable excuse, to take or detain a child under the age of 16 years so as to remove them from the lawful control of a person having lawful control or so as to keep them out of the lawful control of a person entitled to lawful control. Taking includes inducing the child to accompany the person.
It is a defence for a person, whether the father or the mother of a child or, at the time of the alleged offence, they believed on reasonable grounds that they were the child’s father or they believed the child had attained the age of 18 years.