Author Topic: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.  (Read 28760 times)

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Offline Anna

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #15 on: February 21, 2015, 02:15:03 PM »
That's the £1 million question Anna.

If this case is an example of the corruption in that region, the McCanns haven't got a snowball's chance in hell, of getting fair justice. IMO
“You should not honour men more than truth.”
― Plato

Offline John

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #16 on: February 21, 2015, 02:31:25 PM »
If this case is an example of the corruption in that region, the McCanns haven't got a snowball's chance in hell, of getting fair justice. IMO

But didn't Candice Gannon get justice in the end despite the corruption?
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline Anna

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #17 on: February 21, 2015, 02:38:50 PM »
But didn't Candice Gannon get justice in the end despite the corruption?

Well, I hope so, John, but it took two years and the mother and stepfather, were wealthy enough to fight for justice. However the father has said that he won't give up, trying to get his daughter back. That must be a terrible worry for the family. It will be a much worse worry, if he gets a light sentence.
What punishment did the Prosecution attorney get? Fair justice?
« Last Edit: February 21, 2015, 02:45:38 PM by Anna »
“You should not honour men more than truth.”
― Plato

Offline John

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #18 on: February 21, 2015, 04:09:58 PM »
Curiously, the Court previously ordered that he was to get parental visits with his daughter during holiday periods and regardless of his abduction he is her father so contact cannot morally be denied to him.

I agree, a difficult situation for which there is unlikely to be any longterm solution until the girl is 16 and can decide for herself where she wants to be.

I know Madeira and Funchal extremely well and had my own holiday romance there in 1974.  Another Anna! 
« Last Edit: February 21, 2015, 04:18:09 PM by John »
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline Anna

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #19 on: February 21, 2015, 04:16:42 PM »
Curiously, the Court previously ordered that he was to get parental visits with his daughter during holiday periods and regardless of his abduction he is her father so contact cannot morally be denied to him.

I agree, a difficult situation for which there is unlikely to be any longterm solution until the girl is 16 and can decide for herself where she wants to be.

That is true, but was it not on one of those allowed visits that he disappeared with child and hid her?
So he blew it!
“You should not honour men more than truth.”
― Plato

Offline John

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #20 on: February 21, 2015, 04:33:08 PM »
That is true, but was it not on one of those allowed visits that he disappeared with child and hid her?
So he blew it!

That appears to be the case.

Felipe apparently flew to Dublin and took her on holiday on 15 July 2012 and was supposed to return her by 31st July.  So technically the abduction was from that date.
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.

Offline insider

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #21 on: February 22, 2015, 02:41:21 PM »
I cannot see Felipe getting any more than a slap on the wrists as after all it is his own daughter we are talking about here.  This is a domestic case, a tug of love and never an easy thing to resolve.  No doubt Ellie loves her real father as much as she loves her Irish mum and that will not change no matter how many lawyers or do gooders get involved.  My question would be why Felipe felt the need to do what he did in the first place?  Did he for instance feel that he wasn't seeing enough of his daughter with him working on the Algarve and his daughter living with her mother on the holiday island of Madeira?
« Last Edit: February 22, 2015, 02:44:18 PM by insider »
Liars come in all shapes and sizes. No profession is without them.

Offline Anna

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #22 on: February 22, 2015, 03:05:30 PM »
I cannot see Felipe getting any more than a slap on the wrists as after all it is his own daughter we are talking about here.  This is a domestic case, a tug of love and never an easy thing to resolve.  No doubt Ellie loves her real father as much as she loves her Irish mum and that will not change no matter how many lawyers or do gooders get involved.  My question would be why Felipe felt the need to do what he did in the first place?  Did he for instance feel that he wasn't seeing enough of his daughter with him working on the Algarve and his daughter living with her mother on the holiday island of Madeira?

There is also the question......Why did the mother get custody of the child, who I believe was born in Portugal?

Whatever reason he had for kidnapping Ellie and keeping her away from the rest of her family for 2 years, we do not know, but it was against the law and therefore he must suffer the consequences.

A child parted from it’s mother, having to live in squalid conditions where she was hidden and having to give a false name to anyone who asked, for 2 years.... That is going to have a long psychological effect on that child.
I hope an agreement of common sense can be arranged by the parents, because he obviously loves her?

However if I was the mother, I would have a great fear of leaving her with her father again, as I am sure any mother would.
“You should not honour men more than truth.”
― Plato

Offline insider

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #23 on: February 22, 2015, 03:43:41 PM »
I would think any further visitations will have to be in Dublin and under strict supervision.  Does anyone happen to know if the second child is also his?
Liars come in all shapes and sizes. No profession is without them.

Offline Anna

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #24 on: February 22, 2015, 03:56:57 PM »
I would think any further visitations will have to be in Dublin and under strict supervision.  Does anyone happen to know if the second child is also his?

I believe that would be the only answer, insider.
I don't think the other child is his, but I am not sure. She is fairer than Ellie, I believe, but still a possibility.
“You should not honour men more than truth.”
― Plato

Offline insider

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #25 on: February 22, 2015, 05:21:00 PM »
Young people should be warned of the dangers of getting involved while working abroad as it never lasts and it is the poor children who have to cope with the fallout.
Liars come in all shapes and sizes. No profession is without them.

Offline Anna

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #26 on: February 22, 2015, 05:35:37 PM »
I didn't know that Candice was working abroad. Ellie has her father's name "Silva" so I assume they were married when Ellie was born.

        Wherever you go in the world, you will see romance between people from different countries, but I don't think it is inevitable to end in disaster.
How many fatherless children are there, in the UK, from British parents, for instance?
“You should not honour men more than truth.”
― Plato

Offline insider

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #27 on: February 22, 2015, 06:15:51 PM »
I didn't know that Candice was working abroad. Ellie has her father's name "Silva" so I assume they were married when Ellie was born.

        Wherever you go in the world, you will see romance between people from different countries, but I don't think it is inevitable to end in disaster.
How many fatherless children are there, in the UK, from British parents, for instance?

I am willing to bet there is more to this story than has been revealed publicly. 
« Last Edit: February 22, 2015, 08:15:39 PM by insider »
Liars come in all shapes and sizes. No profession is without them.

Offline Anna

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #28 on: February 22, 2015, 08:23:06 PM »
I am willing to bet there is more to this story than has been revealed publicly.  The mother wasn't long in changing Ellie's name to Gannon despite the natural father claim to paternity.

I agree it will be a story to be heard when it all comes out.

2013 the custody battle had been going on for 5 years, so the 6 year old in 2015, can not be his.
His child, Ellie was born 2005? so they must have parted 2007/8. Not together long then and the girl was just a toddler.
I couldn't understand why he complained, that her mother wouldn't let her learn Portuguese....Also don't all Portuguese speak English?

Snippits:-
Independent Ireland
18 February 2013
Ms Gannon, meanwhile, remains on the Portuguese island of Madeira as she doesn't have permission to return to Ireland with Ellie. She has lived there for the past five years as the custody battle raged in the courts.

Her husband, Irishman Philip Gannon, said it was always the family's intention to settle in Ireland but that they were "trapped" in Portugal due to Mr Silva's parental rights.


Meanwhile, Ms Gannon rejected as "rubbish" allegations by Mr Silva in a Portuguese TV interview that she had changed his daughter's second name to Gannon, disrupted her education and stopped her from learning Portuguese.

In the interview he said that taking his daughter were the actions of a "desperate father, looking for the truth and the love of my daughter".

He added: "I will obviously continue to fight for my daughter.

www.independent.ie/irish-news/mum-tells-of-nightmare-wait-to-bring-ellie-home-after-alleged-kidnapping-29077032.html

“You should not honour men more than truth.”
― Plato

Offline John

Re: Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
« Reply #29 on: March 02, 2015, 11:37:35 AM »
Portuguese father of tug-of-love Irish schoolgirl to be charged with kidnap



Published 26 February 2015


The Portuguese father of Irish schoolgirl Ellie Silva is due to be tried next month for her kidnap.  Filipe Silva, 38, has been ordered to appear at a court in the Algarve capital Faro on March 17.  He faces up to ten years in jail if convicted.



Ellie’s mother Candice Gannon says her daughter loves being in Ireland with her twin siblings.

Ellie’s mother Candice Gannon, 30, and stepfather Philip Gannon, 47, have applied to give evidence from Dublin by video-conference.

Confirmation of the court date comes more than two years after Ellie, ten, was reunited with her mother at an Algarve children’s home after nearly seven months apart.

Mr Silva, 38, disappeared with his daughter in July 2012 during a two-week holiday and flouted a court order to return her.

The schoolgirl started a new life in Ireland last May with her mother and stepfather at their home in Ballsbridge, Dublin, after a family court judge in Portugal allowed her to leave the country.

Mrs Gannon said last night: ‘Life is very good for us in Ireland. Ellie could not be happier. She loves her new school, is inseparable from [her sister] Olivia and she is a huge help with the twins [her brothers] whom she adores.

‘It’s so nice we can all finally enjoy a normal life in Ireland. Things could definitely have turned out a lot worse for us.

‘Thank God we got Ellie out of Portugal when we did.’

She added: ‘It took the Faro courts five months to issue an arrest warrant, a full year to formally accuse him of a crime and another 20 months to proceed to trial.

‘It’s a miracle we got Ellie out of Portugal when we did.

‘Given everything that happened during and after the time Ellie was kidnapped, I’ve learned not to expect too much justice from the Faro courts.’

Mr Silva, who had a holiday fling with Mrs Gannon in 2004, has consistently denied any wrongdoing and is expected to plead innocent at the start of next month’s trial.

Ellie, who was born in Portugal, is due to give evidence, as is her mother and stepfather.

A police report submitted to the trial court – and expected to be outlined during the hearing – reveals the lengths that Mr Silva went to keep Ellie’s mother from seeing her.

He is accused in the report of meticulously planning to stay one step ahead of the law.

It is alleged he abandoned the Algarve with his daughter, ended contact with his closest family and friends, and even refrained from using his normal mobile or bank cards and accounts.

Police also highlighted how they discovered his daughter only received part-time schooling at an educational centre on the outskirts of Porto, northern Portugal.

Officers concluded that he had decided against having her schooled at home after discovering he would have to seek permission from the local education authority and give details of the address where Ellie was living.

The report had recommended that Mr Silva’s mother Ana Maria should be accused of kidnap but state prosecutors decided against charges.



Irish schoolgirl kidnapped:Ellie, pictured here with her stepfather Philip Gannon who flew to Portugal to collect her.

Despite being charged with kidnap, Mr Silva was allowed to apply for custody of his daughter.

Mr Silva was told last April that his application had failed and his daughter would be returning to Ireland.

Ellie had to remain in Portugal until the decision was announced.

Ellie was separated from her mother, stepfather and sister Olivia, now four, after they returned to Ireland when Mrs Gannon became pregnant with twins and was told they had a potentially life threatening condition.

Eventually the child flew home to a family reunion last May after Mr Gannon picked her up at Funchal Airport on the island of Madeira.

www.evoke.ie/news/irish-schoolgirl-kidnapped-by-father/
A malicious prosecution for a crime which never existed. An exposé of egregious malfeasance by public officials.
Indeed, the truth never changes with the passage of time.