High court judge rules in case of Amina al-Jeffery, 21, who says her father imprisoned her because she ‘kissed a guy’

A Saudi academic who allegedly imprisoned his 21-year-old daughter must allow her to return to the UK by 11 September, a high court judge has ruled.

Amina al-Jeffery – who grew up in Swansea and has dual British and Saudi Arabian nationality – says her father, Mohammed al-Jeffery, an academic, locked her up at his home in the Saudi city of Jeddah because she “kissed a guy”.

Lawyers representing Amina al-Jeffery had taken legal action and asked Mr Justice Holman to look at ways of helping her. The judge, who analysed the arguments at a public hearing in the family division of the high court in London in July, has ruled that she must be returned to the UK by 11 September.

Holman was told Jeffery left Swansea and moved to Saudi Arabia with her father four years ago. Her barrister, Anne-Marie Hutchinson, said Jeffery was originally told she was going on a holiday to Morocco in Easter 2012. Her mother and eight siblings are understood to have remained in the UK. In Saudi Arabia, she was locked in a bedroom with metal bars on the window, beaten and deprived of food and water, the court heard.

“All in all Amina has been prevented from functioning as an independent adult,” Holman ruled. “Amina is a citizen of Saudi Arabia, where these constraints may be acceptable under the law of Saudi Arabia. But she’s also a British subject where it’s totally unacceptable, and I find it represents a severe curtailment of her freedom.”

He added: “The current constraint is denying her the right to be British and to adhere to British society,” adding: “If citizenship means anything, it means the right to protection. To do nothing at all would be a dereliction of my duty to Amina.”

Jeffery’s lawyers had told the court they had had problems communicating with her, but that she had spoken to a representative of the British consulate, who passed on her claims that she was locked in her room. She described herself as a “locked-up girl with a shaved head”.

The metal bars had been removed, she said, but she was still locked in the house and prevented from using the internet or phone.

Her father’s barrister, Marcus Scott-Manderson QC, had told the court his client had taken his daughter to Saudi Arabia to “save her life”. Scott-Manderson said Jeffery’s father believed she was reckless and had been taking drugs, and “going to clubs and spending time with older men”.

The Saudi government was paying Mohammed al-Jeffery’s legal fees, through the ministry of foreign affairs, he added.

Holman delivered an ex tempore oral judgment. During the hearings he acknowledged the difficulties of enforcing any ruling he makes. He said: “There are limits on the powers of enforcement – there are no reciprocal agreements between the UK and Saudi Arabia.”

However, during the ruling he said: “This court has considerable moral and practical hold over the father, and there’s no reason I should assume he will not obey my order.”

Hutchinson said: “Amina, as the judge found, was born in this country, brought up and educated in this country, and lived her life in this country. Her family lives here, from whom her father is not separated, as do her siblings, and her family have a significant connection [to the UK].”

Geraint Davies, the Labour MP for Swansea West, said he had written to the foreign secretary twice about Jeffery’s case. “I wrote to the Foreign Office at the end of last year and they assured me that something was happening. It’s become apparent that nothing is happening and now it’s come to court. All the awful detail of her imprisonment and abuse has been confirmed.”

The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has a “duty” to ensure that Jeffery returns as soon as possible, he said, and he should consider actions such as arresting her father if he enters the UK if he doesn’t comply.

“It’s important that Johnson makes it clear that this isn’t a small issue; this is a fundamental issue. Obviously we’ve got commercial and other relationships with Saudi Arabia but this is a test case of whether the fundamental rights of liberty that we cherish are central to British values when underwritten by the rule of law in court are respected by the Saudi government or not.”

He added: “It’s not good enough to say we’re doing what we can behind the scenes. My job as a constituency representative is to stand up for Amina’s rights and that is Boris Johnson’s duty as new foreign secretary and he’ll be judged by how he does.”

The Saudi government’s support for Mohammed al-Jeffery’s case could cause “complications”, he said, but it is important Britain shows there is “no green light” for human rights abuses.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: “We recognise that this is a distressing time for Ms Al-Jeffery. We have been providing assistance to her since the case was first brought to our attention and will continue to do so. British embassy staff have met with her to check on her welfare and helped her speak to lawyers in the UK.”

Tobias Ellwood, the foreign office minister responsible for the Middle East, is understood to have raised Jeffery’s case with the Saudi ambassador to London.