Runaway mother’s ex-partner drops contempt of court action after she expressed fears over impact of jail sentence on their three-year-old son, Ethan

Runaway mother Rebecca Minnock, who sparked a media storm when she vanished with her son at the height of a bitter custody battle, has been described by a judge as the “scourge of the system” but no longer faces the prospect of prison for running away.

A high court judge told Minnock, 35, that she was “manipulative, attention-seeking and truculent” and that keeping three-year-old Ethan from her estranged partner for the 17 days she spent on the run had made victims of both the boy and his father.

The judge said: “Any idea that this sort of action will go unnoticed by the court is wrong. Parents who flout court orders are the scourge of the system. It is only the mercy of the father that spares this mother.”

Minnock had appeared before Judge Stephen Wildblood QC in Bristol after her estranged partner, Roger Williams, claimed she was in contempt of court by breaking the terms of orders relating to Ethan. After Minnock expressed fears about the emotional damage sending her to prison for any breach would cause the child, Williams said he no longer wished proceedings to continue.

Wildblood praised Williams, 39, and told Minnock she owed her liberty to him. He said she would probably have been found to be in contempt had proceedings gone on and said she might have been jailed for at least 28 days.

He was fiercely critical of the mother’s decision to flee. Wildblood said: “It would be patently wrong to suggest that Ms Minnock was so overpowered by protective maternal instinct that she was driven to behave in the way that she did.

“Her behaviour was manipulative, attention-seeking and truculent. It caused immense distress to many. It caused a very large amount of public money to be wasted. Any suggestion that Ms Minnock was driven into a corner and had no alternative but to act in this way is also without any foundation.”

Wildblood said she should have pursued any grievances through the courts. “The one thing that this mother should not have done is to remove Ethan from his home environment and family life and take him into hiding,” he said. “Her actions were manifestly contrary to the welfare of her child and were a product of her own self-focus. They had nothing to do with what was best for this child.”

During the judgment, Minnock, who wore a pink dress and cardigan, sat with her hands clasped, raising an eyebrow at his harshest criticism of her.

Wildblood said Williams had behaved with “extreme sensitivity” and “has kept the pain, frustration and distress that he must have been feeling to himself”. The judge said: “I commend him for the way that he has acted.”

He added: “Mr Williams now wishes to end the public displays of the difficulties that affect Ethan’s upbringing and wishes the remaining disputes to be heard away from the glare of publicity.

“His decision [not to pursue proceedings] is, in my opinion, a strong and commendable display of parental responsibility and is plainly based on the best interests of Ethan. He does not wish Ethan to be exposed to the continuing publicity that Ms Minnock has caused.

“He and Ethan are the victims of this mother’s actions and I consider that the father’s voice should prevail. She must never fail to comply with court orders again.”

Unusually, the details of the custody battle were made public during a series of court hearings when Wildblood warned members of Minnock’s family that they could be jailed if they withheld information about where she was. The case made the front pages of newspapers and led television and radio news bulletins.

During her time on the run, Minnock contacted the Sun by phone and did a photoshoot and video with the Daily Mail. Wildblood has accused her of manipulating the media to further her own case.

The judge has now made it clear that only what is said in open court should be reported, effectively stopping the media publishing anything Minnock says outside court.

Minnock asked him if she was being “gagged” but Wildblood told her the term was “singularly inappropriate”. However, he made it clear that normal reporting restrictions around family court proceedings would apply to forthcoming hearings about Ethan’s care.

The judge told the media that they could still report details of the proceedings before him in open court. Wildblood also invited the media to comment on his judgment, saying opinion was part of “open justice” and adding: “There has been a considerable public examination of this case which has been necessary and, I think, educative for many.”

Minnock had told the hearing that she had only spent one hour with Ethan – which was supervised – since she handed herself in on 12 June. Asked by Wildblood how it went, she replied: “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

She then told him: “I got to see Ethan yesterday. If I’m going to get sent to prison what emotional damage will that have on Ethan? That’s my biggest concern.”

Minnock went missing with Ethan from her home in Somerset on 27 May – the day of a court hearing at which she feared she would be ordered to hand over her son to his father. Minnock handed herself in to the police in Oxford.