An appeal court yesterday ordered the immediate return of a five-year-old boy to Poland, ruling that his Maltese father had unlawfully kept him in Malta instead of allowing him to go back to his Polish mother.

The court heard that Michael Caruana had a relationship with Katarzyna Morkis, a Pole, with whom he had a child, Jackob Caruana.

The couple never married and after their child was born in Malta they entered into a contract, approved by the Maltese court, under which the mother would have care and custody of the child while the father would enjoy access.

Ms Morkis eventually returned to Poland with her son and took up residence there, with the child attending school in Poland.

Last September the parties entered into another agreement stating that the child would visit Malta to spend time with his father and his father’s family. However, Mr Caruana had kept the child in Malta and had refused to return him to Poland last January.

This, said the court, was a clear case of wrongful retention in terms of the law governing international child abduction.

The habitual place of residence of the child was Poland, for he was established and settled there, and registered to attend school.

The interests of the child dictated that decisions concerning the child were to be taken by a court of his habitual residence.

Mr Caruana was trying to build a new family for his son in Malta but he could not do so by keeping the child away from his mother in Poland.

The Court of Appeal, composed of Chief Justice Silvio Camilleri, Mr Justice Raymond C. Pace and Tonio Mallia, therefore upheld a decision of the First Hall of the Civil Court following judicial action filed by the Director of Standards against Mr Caruana.

It ordered the child’s immediate return to Poland.