Journey's end ... Ken Thompson in Amsterdam yesterday where he is waiting to be reunited with his six-year-old son, Andrew. Credit:Penny Bradfield However, his most emotional moment came when he thanked the Dutch woman who "heard a comment that didn't quite feel right", went to the internet and found the website showing Andrew was missing. "She had the courage to call the police, she did the right thing, she knew something wasn't right and she didn't walk away, she alerted the police. ''It is awful that Andrew will have to know about this happening, I tried so hard for it not to become public. But when he was abducted I had to speak out.'' His former wife, Melinda Stratton, 48, is in custody awaiting extradition to Australia.

Andrew Thompson ... his father is worried about what he knows. Dutch police have confirmed a brief appearance in court and further legal proceedings - as well as the use of Hague Convention treaties on abducted children - are due to be set in train to return Andrew to Australia. Mr Thompson says he has a film reel playing in his head. Over and over again, he sees his little boy's face break into a wide grin and as he gives his dad a hug, the words, whispered in his ear: ''I want to come and stay at your house.'' Close to three years have passed since Andrew sidled up to his father during a court-appointed visit and said: ''We don't live with you any more?'' Mr Thompson says he has been warned that the process of returning the boy to Australia could take six weeks or more. He is also only too aware of the need for a carefully managed reunion and the damage done to children who have been abducted.

''I know that my reintroduction to his life has to be managed carefully. I have a degree in psychology … I have read the research and these kids suffer horrendous damage as a result of being abducted. They are sometimes told the other parent is dead … He has not seen me for 2½ years.'' ''I want to do this slowly, properly … ensure there is no more trauma than he has had already. ''I cannot describe the anxiety and the anguish that I have been through myself in the last 2½ years … my mother, who is 90, she has been so strong through this but I know it is tearing her apart.'' Mr Thompson says when he was told his son may have been found - in a city he had only recently left during a cycling tour of Europe to look for his son - he simply didn't allow himself to believe it. Mr Thompson says he initially took court action when Ms Stratton stopped allowing him to see Andrew after their separation.

The custody battle exploded when the former NSW Deputy Fire Commissioner was hit with accusations of abuse by his former wife. He battled for years, taking polygraph tests and submitting to psychiatric evaluations. Each time it was clear that the claims made against him had been fabricated. A psychiatric report later admitted by the court raised the possibility that the boy's mother may have suffered delusions. Mr Thompson is gentle about his former wife saying there is a part of him that understands that she really believed what she was doing was right. He says the memory that plays over and over in his mind unfolded during a visit with a court-appointed psychiatrist.

''I didn't know Andrew would be there … the psychiatrist said he was going to bring him to see me and when he came in, he had a smile on his face, it just covered his face and that burned into my mind. I did not recognise him, he had gone from a baby to a little boy.'' . ''I saw him a few times at a contact centre after that, then she stopped bringing him. Nobody knew what happened. But then, during another court appearance, there was a short adjournment and the judge came back and said, 'I'm very sorry to tell you that your son has been abducted.' ''That is how I found out. ''I thought then that things were as bad as they could get … I couldn't have been more wrong.'' Loading

Mr Thompson's lawyer, Duncan Holmes, said ''a person can't walk out of Australia with no money, no support and then live comfortably in Europe for 2½ years. So there's a question of who or how has she been supported?'' It is believed Mr Holmes has written to Ms Stratton's brother John. When asked for his sister's side of the story. ''I don't know what her story is, she's not here … we haven't spoken to her since before she left,'' he said.