Father blames police over missing son

Ray Reid with a picture of his son Bryan, now 8. Picture / Amos Chapple

A Waikato father has accused authorities of not doing enough to find his 8-year-old son, who was taken to the Middle East in breach of court orders more than a year ago.

Ray Reid says no effort has been made to find his former wife and return his son Bryan.

He contacted Hamilton police last July to complain that his ex-wife had breached custody and access orders.

Mr Reid last heard from Roshni Reid last April. She was living in Dubai with her partner, Sayed Abid, a Pakistani-born New Zealander.

The United Arab Emirates is not a signatory to the Hague Convention, an international treaty designed to return children to the country where they usually live to deal with custody matters.

A Waikato police spokeswoman said officers had made inquiries through Interpol but had been unable to find Mrs Reid or Mr Abid. The fact that the Emirates was not a signatory to the convention was a complication.

The complaint was being dealt with as a breach of court orders and not a kidnapping. Border alerts would notify police if mother and child returned to New Zealand.

The spokeswoman said police would follow up any information on the child's whereabouts but until then could take no further action.

New Zealand embassy officials in Saudi Arabia have told Mr Reid they would keep a close watch out for his son and had informed the consulate-general in Dubai.

Mr Reid has provided the Weekend Herald with documentation showing his son was taken out of New Zealand in late 2003 for a holiday to Australia. He was in the custody of his mother but was not to leave the country without Mr Reid's permission.

He agreed they could go on holiday and a Family Court-appointed lawyer released Bryan's passport.

The boy was supposed to return in January 2004 but that month Mr Reid received an email from his former wife to say they were in Pakistan because Mr Abid's father had fallen ill.

In a series of emails, which stopped last April, Mr Reid offered to fly to Dubai and collect his son.

His wife replied that Mr Abid had been involved in a serious accident and, two days later, claimed he had died.

She asked Mr Reid to deposit money into a bank account to buy air tickets but he was not willing to hand over any money "as I have no trust whatsoever that the funds will be used for a return airfare".

After contacting the New Zealand consulate in Dubai and ringing all hospitals in the area, Mr Reid was sceptical about the claims that Mr Abid had died.

He told the Weekend Herald the effort to have Bryan returned to New Zealand had placed him under stress and had been "very emotional".

Mr Reid said police were not interested when he approached them in January 2003 after learning his son was in Dubai.

He went back in July armed with legal advice and information from the Ministry of Justice on the removal of children from New Zealand.

It is understood Mrs Reid and Mr Abid are also being sought by a finance company in connection with cars shipped out of New Zealand.