[United Kingdom] [Petition denied][Grave Risk of Harm][Age and
Maturity defense]
In Garner v Harris, 2922 WL 193470066 (E.D.
Texas, 2022) Mr. Garner and Ms. Folsom were U.K. citizens. They were unmarried partners
for nearly thirty years. During that time, they raised five children. Two of
their children, R.G.H. and H.G.H., were the subject of this Petition. Although Mr. Garner and Ms.
Folsom were separated, Mr. Garner continued living in Ms. Folsom’s house with
their children until June 2021.
Over the years, Mr. Garner’s mental instability, alcohol and drug abuse, anger
problems, and suicidal nature frequently materialized into violent outbursts
and controlling behavior. Mr. Garner subjected his family to a pattern of
horrific physical and psychological abuse.
Mr. Garner had depression
and anxiety. His depression was
so severe that he could not work. Instead, Mr. Garner relied on mental disability benefits
from the U.K. government as his source of income. Mr. Garner, in contradiction
with his doctor’s instructions, no longer takes his antidepressant,
Venlafaxine. Despite his
mental health issues, Mr. Garner regularly drank alcohol and smoked marijuana.
Mr. Garner had not informed his medical providers that he stopped taking his
medication and continued to consume alcohol and marijuana. The Court found Mr. Garner
subjected the Children to physical and psychological abuse. One of the children
testified that he witnessed Mr. Garner slap H.G.H. He also testified that Mr. Garner
would grab R.G.H. by the face and push his head into the wall. The Court heard corroborating
testimony from the Children during in-camera interviews. R.G.H. stated that Mr. Garner
slapped him and his brother. R.G.H. also testified that on numerous
occasions Mr. Garner would grab him by the face, covering his mouth, and smack
his head against the wall.
Similarly, H.G.H. recalled Mr. Garner slapping the brothers and hitting
R.G.H.’s head against the wall.
In addition to physical violence, Mr. Garner controlled and psychologically
abused his family. Mr. Garner also
verbally abused the family. Mr. Garner terrorized his family with threats. On
multiple occasions, Mr. Garner told R.G.H. “I’ll burn the house down with
everyone in it. These
statements caused R.G.H. to suffer from extreme panic and anxiety. R.G.H. would retreat to his
room and think about how he could rescue his family members if Mr. Garner set
the house on fire. H.G.H. did
not feel safe with Mr. Garner in the House. Mr. Garner showed H.G.H. and
R.G.H. his machete. H.G.H.
feared Mr. Garner would use his machete to kill the family in the middle of the
night while they slept. The Court
found that returning the Children to live with Mr. Garner in the U.K. would
expose them to a grave risk of physical and psychological harm and that there
were no ameliorative measures.
Through its in-camera interviews with
R.G.H. and H.G.H., the Court found that the Children were both of sufficient
age and maturity to object to returning to the U.K. to live with Mr. Garner,
that the Children both explicitly made such an objection, and that the
Children’s decisions were not products of undue influence.
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