Ayr dad's island protest to change legal loophole on parental abduction
Nathan Gilmour is demonstrating the 'isolation & loneliness' felt by parents and children unlawfully separated.
An Ayrshire dad who hasn’t seen his children in four years has spent the last week on an uninhabited island to demonstrate the ‘loneliness and isolation’ felt by parents separated from their children.
Nathan Gilmour, a teacher from Ayr, has been campaigning to change a legal loophole dubbed the ‘kidnapper’s charter’ after his ex-partner fled to Cyprus in 2019 with their two children aged 7 & 4.
Nathan says the fight to see his children again has ‘reduced him to rubble’. He’s been raising money for a judicial review of the legal loophole which is not held in England or Wales, and his latest demonstration was close to home.
He’s spent the last week camping on the uninhabited lighthouse island of Lady Isle, just off the coast of Troon raising some of the £100,000 he needs for the law to be changed.
READ MORE:** Ayr dad fighting to change law on parental abduction**
He tells West FM that this demonstration is to raise awareness for the legal loophole so he can change it and prevent other families from suffering what he has.
He said: “This week has not been about me; this has been about highlighting an injustice to children and families like my own.
“Legislation needs to change, otherwise children and families will continue to suffer an abuse which can be prevented.
“I’m also demonstrating the isolation. The isolation that is experienced by children as well as the parent. Children who are removed from Scotland against their own will. Children who are denied their right to a family life, who are denied a relationship with both parents.
“The last week on this island has been more difficult at times than I expected it to be. It has been if you a like a sort of snapshot of what I’ve experienced over the last few years since my children were removed from the country.”
Nathan has managed to raise more than £4000 in the last week but still only has £12,000 of the required £100,000.
His wife is believed to be in Northern Cyprus – the Turkish occupied area of the country.
He added: “With North Cyprus being an illegally occupied area of land, it’s tough to persuade the social and legal services over there to help return my kids.
“But first the authorities in Scotland need to have appropriate powers to intervene – and unlike the rest of the UK, we don’t have those.”
You can find his GoFundMe Page here.