A British expatriate yesterday won the right to keep his 15-year-old son in Malta with him after the boy told the Family Court he did not want to return to the UK where he was living with his half brother.

The issue was taken to court after the boy’s British mother filed an application for him and his 14-year-old brother to return to the UK following a short holiday in January. The father insisted the children should remain in Malta.

There was no written agreement regarding parental responsibility of the children following the couple’s divorce in September 2007, so the parents needed a court ruling to settle the matter.

The younger of the two children decided to return to the UK but his brother said he wanted to remain with his father because he would be better cared for.

The boy spoke to Mr Justice Noel Cuschieri in his chambers and told him that in the UK he did not live with his mother but with his half-brother and his boyfriend in a rented house. His mother lived with his younger brother at their grandmother’s house.

He said he liked the Maltese way of life and had made friends and even had a part-time job, allowing him to indulge in his hobby as a bird breeder.

The judge said the boy was clearly mature and able to take considered decisions.

Lawyer Alexia Farrugia Zrinzo appeared for the father.