A WOMAN who made off for a new life in Turkey with her young daughter without her father's permission has been jailed for a year.

The 39-year-old mother sold her former home at half price, rented a flat abroad and even registered her six-year-old at a local school.

She then took her from her then home in Flintshire and flew out to Turkey leaving her father in a state of “total disbelief”.

The child was eventually reunited with him after nearly two months.

Judge Huw Rees told the mother, who has also lived at addresses in Chester and Ellesmere Port, that there was “some premeditation” behind her abduction and added: “You had experienced numerous holidays in Turkey and said you always intended to live there.

“You clearly abrogated your responsibility as a mother, but your former partner can see the wider picture.”

Mold Crown Court heard the woman had been in a 17-year relationship with the father of two of her children, but after a breakdown in 2014 she moved to North Wales with a new partner.

The father was permitted to stay in contact with the children, but barrister David Mainstone, prosecuting, said that in 2018 he noticed they were not being cared for properly.

“They had head lice and appeared to be hungry. In July last year she asked him to take the children as she was struggling financially,” Mr Mainstone told Mold Crown Court.

The six-year-old and her elder sister went in the care of their father at his home in Warrington in August last year.

Despite that the mother announced her intention to move to Turkey and take the youngest child with her.

She was warned by her former partner who texted her saying: “You don’t have my permission to take my daughter abroad and if you do for more than 28 days it’s abduction.”

The mother had been allowed contact time with her daughter at weekend and on October 19 last year seized on the opportunity to fly off to Turkey with the girl.

She sent a text saying that her brother suspected she was up to “something dodgy”, said Mr Mainstone

Her former husband contacted the police, but she told them she had not intention of returning to the UK.

When she did, so she could make a bank transfer, she was arrested at Gatwick Airport, although there was no sign of the child who was being looked after by her friends in Turkey.

The child was eventually reunited with her father on December 14.

The woman maintained her ex had given her permission, but he said in a victim impact statement said he was in a state of shock and “the thought of never seeing his daughter again was incomprehensible”.

The woman admitted a child abduction charge in that she took her daughter out of the UK without the appropriate consent on October 19.

Defence barrister Anna Price said the mother was suffering from anxiety and panic attacks at the time of the offence.

“She is extremely sorry for any anxiety and suffering caused. She had lost her job and was struggling with money.

"She wanted to start a new life in Turkey with her daughter.

“Her actions were totally misguided, but this was not done out of malice.

“She was a lady who was not thinking straight.

“She had a Facebook page where she posted her intentions and there was some contact between the girl and her father on video calls.”