Disappeared and Abducted Children and Young Adults > Portugal's missing children and child kidnapping cases.
Algarve businessman to stand trial after fleeing with daughter.
John:
Ellie’ dad dodges jail with suspended sentence
BY Carrie-Marie Bratley, In Algarve.
21 July 2016
An Algarve businessman accused of kidnapping his dual-nationality daughter has avoided jail after being handed a suspended prison sentence.
Filipe Silva stood accused of kidnapping his Irish-Portuguese daughter in 2012, after refusing to hand her back to her mother or disclose the girl’s whereabouts for several months. He unlawfully withheld his then seven-year-old daughter Giselle – widely referred to in the media as Ellie – from her British-Irish mother, Candice Gannon, for six months, spanning September 2012 to February 2013, ignoring a court order instructing her immediate return in the process.
In the several months of her absence, the child is believed to have lived with her father in Porto, and he allegedly limited contact between Ellie and her mother. Ellie was eventually returned to Candice in February 2013 by her paternal grandmother after Filipe Silva was detained by PJ police.
Silva was last week sentenced to a two-and-a-half-year suspended prison sentence for his actions and also ordered to pay €17,500 in compensation. Judge Joaquim Cruz, who headed proceedings, said Silva had acted with intent but justified the suspended sentence because the father had not shown any behaviour that indicated he would take the girl again after her return. Conceding that he understood the father’s motives, he warned “this should not be done to a child” and in this case, “the parents were the children and the child was the adult.”
Silva’s defence argued the businessman acted out of desperation, alleging he feared his daughter was going to be taken to Ireland to live and claimed the child had said she did not want to go. Through the trial the defence has said Silva’s actions should be interpreted as breach of a court order, and not kidnapping.
Speaking after the sentencing, prosecuting lawyer Spencer Dohner said he considered the outcome fair, given the legal framework for kidnapping crimes. “For seven months the child could not live her life as normal, she couldn’t see her mother, go to school, be with family and friends, or experience any of the things that are normal for any child and she will suffer the consequences of this for the rest of her life”, he said.
Ellie currently resides in Ireland with her mother, stepfather and half-siblings; Silva has visitation rights.
http://www.theportugalnews.com/news/ellie-dad-dodges-jail-with-suspended-sentence/38928
John:
Ellie kidnap case: 2˝ years 'suspended sentence' for Filipe Silva
14 July 2016
The case involving Vilamoura businessman Filipe Silva, who kidnapped his daughter Ellie in 2012 after a period of parental access, is over.
Silva today received a 2˝ year suspended sentence and has been ordered to pay compensation of €7,000 to Ellie's mother, Candice Gannon, and €9,000 to his own daughter for the distress caused by his actions.
Silva's abduction of his daughter Ellie sparked a nationwide police search which led finally to an apartment in Oporto and Silva's arrest on charges of kidnap.
The leniency of today's judgement has left Ellie’s mother, Candice Gannon, disgusted with the Portuguese justice system when it comes to child kidnapping and appalled at the insulting level of compensation for the substantial pain, suffering and distress Filipe Silva has caused her and her family.
Silva faced up to ten years in jail, but has run rings around the court and legal system while endeavouring to present himself as the aggrieved party.
The level of collusion within the Portuguese legal system to help Silva has been shocking.
Not only was a court official feeding Silva information about the kidnap hunt after Ellie had been abducted in 2012, Silva’s lawyer was fully aware of Ellie’s whereabouts but did nothing to alert the authorities despite a desperate nationwide search being underway.
Filipe Silva, a well-off Vilamoura businessman, failed to pay a cent in child support and in court a witness claimed Silva had abducted his own daughter ‘out of desperation’ as he did not want Ellie to move to Ireland.
Ellie’s mother, Candice Gannon, has custody of her daughter. Her family life is in Ireland so it seems sensible that her daughter lives there too and there was never any suggestion that Silva's parental access would be denied.
Silva ended up receiving legal aid with the taxpayer paying his legal fees.
Ellie’s mother said by video-link from Ireland during Silva’s trial that her daughter was "deeply marked by the period in which she was held by her natural father in Oporto, was undergoing daily therapy and has been suffering from anxiety with troubled sleep and low self-confidence.”
Candice Gannon today hit out, “This sentence comes as no surprise to me. I have learned to expect very little justice from Faro courts”
“Thankfully Ellie is safe and well and very happy living in a country that believes in enforcing the law.”
Another father in a high-profile Algarve kidnapping is Paulo Guiomar, who received a sentence of three years in prison having been remanded in custody due to the seriousness of the charges. Filipe Silva was at liberty before his trial and remains so.
Ellie’s mother today commented further, "I am disgusted by the leniency of this sentence. The Algarve is well known for not taking child kidnapping too seriously”
“Despite the disgraceful decision to suspend this sentence, we are very pleased that this ordeal is finally over and we are looking forward to going back to enjoying our family life in Ireland where child protection is taken somewhat more seriously.”
“Needless to say we are raging with the leniency of this sentence, but we sort of knew all along that they would let him away with it.”
Filipe Silva failed to show up in court to hear his sentence. Instead, he sent in a sick note.
http://www.algarvedailynews.com/news/9371-ellie-kidnap-case-2-years-suspended-sentence-for-filipe-silva
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