Duncan* has been aching to turn 18 for years and on Thursday he finally took the step into adulthood, happy in the knowledge that any custody commitments between his parents would evaporate forever.

There needs to be time to heal for both of us to have a relationship

“I’ve been thinking and waiting for this day for so long... In the eyes of the law being 18 makes a huge difference. I finally have a voice,” he said.

An only child, his parents’ jostling landed his 57-year-old mother in prison for failing to abide by the custody contract and it was only a presidential pardon that saved her from serving the full three-month term.

The story first came to light in The Sunday Times last month, when Duncan, then still 17, came forward to say his mother’s only crime was failing to insist he visited his father when he preferred to stay home and study.

The boy’s situation exposed the problems courts faced when separation between two sides became bitter and raised the question of whether prison was the solution in such cases.

His father felt there were grounds for the sentence as his ex-wife had been given the chance to reform between the original sentence and the appeal but never did, and was “disgusted” by the presidential pardon.

But basking in the sun just outside University, where Duncan is studying to become a doctor, all this bickering fails to erase the glimmer from his eyes as he savoured the moment of turning 18.

Huddled next to his girlfriend, the timid boy in him still pops out during the interview, but shyness is slowly making way for a steely self-assurance.

“I can finally decide for myself. Before, I had to learn to adapt to decisions taken by others; I felt torn. Sometimes, I wondered if there was pique between my parents,” he reflected.

The boy’s parents split when his mother was just two months pregnant with him, but the relationship between the two teachers was rocky from the start – a lawyer had to be brought in just hours before they tied the knot to resolve a dispute over their future property.

Duncan has always lived with his mother, while visiting his father eight hours a week. Problems arose when the boy entered his teens: his mother said she could not force him to visit and that he was bogged down with his studies; while his father argued that this was being done to spite him and that the boy was being bullied by the mother not the visit him.

As his story became a national issue Duncan has had to step into the adult world before his time when he suddenly found himself before the President making a case for his mother’s release.

Holding his girlfriend’s hand tight, Duncan said the biggest support that propped him up throughout the past month was his girlfriend and her family.

Now that he has turned 18, which parent does he choose to live with?

“I now wish to live my life; possibly on my own. But until that day comes, I’ll stay where I’ve always lived – at home with my mother. It’s the life I know,” he said.

Would he ever consider moving into the new bedroom his father has prepared for him?

“I don’t wish to live with my father... The relationship that was necessary for a bond was never built. I respect him as a father, but I’m hurt after all that happened.

“There needs to be time to heal for both of us to have a relationship. Nobody can say what the future holds. I’m just happy I turned 18 and all this is over.”

* Names have been changed.