A WORCESTERSHIRE law firm has issued advice around how best to deal with family matters after a Somerset woman went on the run with her three-year-old son after losing custody of her child.

Rebecca Minnock fled from her home in Burnham-on-the-Sea with her son Ethan on Wednesday, May 27, the day after a court granted custody of the boy to his father. But she handed herself in more than two weeks later on June 12 following a national campaign to trace the 35-year-old and her son.

Following the media storm over the story, Thomas Horton LLP, which has offices in Worcester, Bromsgrove, Redditch and Barnt Green, has urged parents in dispute over the welfare of child to seek legal advice.

Partner and head of family law at the firm Fiona Lawson-Hughes said a court’s primary concern in family matters is always the welfare of the child and parents’ issues with each other will not be taken into account.

“The court considers each case on its own facts and makes a decision based on the child’s best interests,” she said.

“It is not easy to get over the end of a relationship, but it is every parent’s duty to protect their children from what is now recognised as emotional abuse, stemming from severe cases of parent conflict.

“The court is no longer taking no for an answer when it comes to children having a meaningful relationship with both parents.”

In order to encourage them to co-operate before resorting to legal action in most cases parents are required by law to attend a Mediation and Information and Assessment Meeting before issuing an application in relation to the custody of a child.