A man whose ex-wife was jailed for failing to abide by their son’s custody contract believes she deserved her three-month prison sentence.

“She deserved the sentence she got. It’s not exaggerated considering the warnings she received... She kept seeking revenge and refusing me access to my son,” he said, conceding the sentence had still shocked him.

“I didn’t wish to see her in prison, but there were grounds for the sentence; she had been given the chance to reform between the original sentence and the appeal but never did,” the 55-year-old told The Times.

Raphael* came forward after reading his 17-year-old son’s lament in The Sunday Times that his mother’s only crime was failing to insist he visit his father when he preferred to stay home and study.

The son’s story has hit a chord with society and highlighted the problems courts faced when separation between two sides became bitter. It also raised the question of whether prison was the solution in such cases after the 57-year-old mother received the maximum three-month sentence.

Two weeks on, the sentence may have bestowed the father with a sense of justice but it has failed to give him what he really wants – access to his son.

“I won the case and justice has won, but I’m still fighting to see my son. Can you believe this?” he asked.

Asked what was keeping his son from abiding to the visiting hours, now that his mother was in prison, Raphael pointed out that his ex-wife’s sister was continuing where she had left off, depriving him of seeing his son.

“Her sister is continuing with the dirty work and preventing me from seeing my son,” he said.

“My son is timid and has been poisoned by my ex-wife and her sister, who lives with them, against me. She even stopped him saying the word papa in the house...”

The relationship between the parents, who are both teachers, had a rocky start and a lawyer had to be brought in on their wedding day in December 1990 to resolve a dispute over their future property. They soon separated.

He explained that when the boy was young there were no problems related to access, but things became more difficult as time went on.

“I love my son. I still love him in spite of what he said in the newspaper and I’m still waiting for him to visit me,” he replied, insisting that his son had a right to spend time with him and he had always sought his welfare.

In the interview, his son had said he lost respect for his father because when he failed to visit he would go to the police.

When asked about this, his father said: “I used to explain that if he didn’t come I’d have to inform the police. I made it clear to him that the report was against the mother, not him, as she was not abiding by the custody agreement... If I didn’t take the steps I did goodness knows how I’d see even less of him.”

Asked if a 17-year-old boy – who according to the law becomes an adult when he turns 18 next month – should be forced to visit his father at stipulated hours, Raphael insisted his son was never forced.

On the contrary, he said, last year his son, unbeknown to his mother, had gone to spend a day with him in Gozo. “That’s how much he wanted to spend time with me. Her reaction was to file a report with the police and threaten to write him out of the will,” he said.

“I even offered him the chance to come and live with me and visit his mother as often as he liked, as opposed to being tied down with custody hours. I wanted the situation to be the same with me, but she did everything in her power to stop him.”

However, when asked about this his son Duncan* said he had only done this to try and keep the peace in the hope his father would drop the proceedings against his mother.

Raphael conceded that unfortunately, his son was torn between the two and Duncan, he claimed, never had the guts to contradict his mother.

“I’m hoping the prison sentence will make her recognise her mistakes,” he said, proffering three criminal complaints he had filed to see his son in January 2011, February 2011 and August 2011, as well as numerous police reports.

Asked why he was pursuing this, Raphael said the boy remained his son till the end.

“I’ll keep waiting for him. He’s missing out on a lot in life. I never offered him any resistance... If I don’t fight for him, who should I fight for? If I didn’t do this I’d be living in bliss, not facing these problems,” he replied.

But Duncan said going to live with his father “was never going to happen”. He was used to his life and although he had always wanted a father figure, after what happened he was reluctant to visit his father.

“I just want all this to stop,” Duncan said.

“I was never scared of living with my mother, nor felt threatened by her. If that was the case I’d go and visit him now that my mother is in prison,” Duncan said.

Was it right to hand down a prison sentence in such cases of separation?

“Is it right to deprive a father of his son for 18 years? The sentence is extreme because the woman’s behaviour was extreme,” Raphael replied.

The mother’s side

Annabelle* has spent 15 days in prison and according to her count she has another 46 left before she can walk out.

“Do you think I’ll have to spend all 46 days in prison? Please help me,” she said from prison.

She too acknowledged that problems between her and her husband started on the wedding day, and like her husband, she too insisted she had her son’s welfare at heart.

“I never poisoned my son against his father – I didn’t say good things, but neither did I say anything bad,” she said.

In the past two weeks, Annabelle, who has taught for practically all her life, has been trying to adjust to life in prison but she admits it has not been easy.

“I never dreamt I’d end up here... When the judge read out the sentence all I remember was him saying that we were immature and irresponsible parents, then I blanked out,” she said, adding how humiliated she felt when she was led out of court in handcuffs.

“The support of everybody in here and my friends and family outside is helping me cope. I hope psychologically I can remain strong for my son.”

* Names have been changed.