"Four Italian Girls - Press Release 4 October 2012"
- Details
- Category: Uncategorised
- Created: Wednesday, 03 October 2012 23:30
- Written by Alecomm2
Our extended family and the girls are devastated with the outcome of yesterday’s court ruling and we are very concerned about additional harm that may be done if they’re forced to return to Italy. Our biggest concern is for our four girls and their future well being. The situation has caused incredible stress on them and we will do everything in our power to make sure they’re not subjected to any further trauma and are free to live where they choose.
To our supporters and those who have helped us in many, many different ways over the past few years, and especially these past few months, our gratitude and our thanks. We extend our sincere appreciation for all that you have done and continue to do in support of our beautiful, brave girls.
During the detention of the girls last night, a full audio was obtained, which makes for harrowing listening. We’re sure many people have already seen the disturbing footage of the girls being forcibly removed from their mother and forced violently into vehicles by Australian Federal Police officers. We’re horrified that the AFP used such heavy handed measures against four young girls, further scaring and traumatising them moreso than they already had been with the thought of being removed from Australia and their mother and extended family. All Australian’s should be concerned that this type of behaviour is allowed in this country against any person, especially young children who’ve never been charged with a crime.
All options to have the girls reunited with their mother at the earliest instance are being considered.
We ask that you remain respectful towards our family during this time.
Included below are items that were not addressed in court, by omission or refusal, or have not been given the full importance they deserve during these proceedings.
Also included are the events as the mother experienced them, surrounding the detainment and deportation of the girls that occurred last night and in the early hours of this morning.
Limitations in Presentation of Evidence in Hearings so Far
Lisa Foley, for the defence on half a dozen occasions insisted that Laura’s Italian witness’s statement about Tommaso agreeing to coming with Laura and the girls to Australia couldn’t be entered into evidence due to there being a single error in the translation from Italian to English. We later found out this was not accurate advice. The Crown also argued that the DFAT documents could not be admitted. They were finally admitted, but they were never adequately discussed when Laura’s legal representation did not show for the hearing. The medical condition document was not entered in the initial hearing because we have not had, until recently access to this document. This document will be made available.
The Abuse Laura Suffered
There are no documents about the abuse as, like many similar cases, there were no official police complaints filed. He always threatened her if she was to report the abuse to anyone. Ultimately, it was the reason why she left the villa with her daughters and separated from him.
Why Laura Came Here With the Girls
After suffering the abuse while in the marriage, she came to Australia because he wasn’t supporting her financially, he was always absent on their visitations, and the children were being manipulated by his mother on his visits. They were having nightmares prior to their paternal visitations. Also, Laura’s family can produce bank statements going back to 2007 showing the family in Australia were regularly depositing funds into Laura’s bank account to support her financially in the absence of Tommaso providing any assistance whatsoever. In addition, overseas friends of one of the family members also contributed to supporting Laura and her daughters on at least one occasion. Laura did have a part time job to try to support herself and the girls, but this was nowhere near sufficient on its own.
Embassy Involvement and Flights
The Australian Embassy in Rome contacted Kate (Laura’s mother) advising they were changing the flights because they did not want Tommaso turning up at the airport causing more trouble, that he had changed his mind before. I (Laura’s aunt, Eve) made the original flight booking myself and my Affidavit is also available. This particular affidavit was also refused in court, because the judge said it was not in the correct format (sic). Laura was never advised it could be amended and resubmitted.
The Girls’ Knowledge
I will leave this question for the girls mother to answer when she’s able to speak to the media herself.
DFAT Support of Relocation
It is contained in the DFAT documents presented to the courts that they detailed plans and obtained a full quote for the cost for Laura and the girls for their RTA (return to Australia). This amounted to over AUD$7,000. Furthermore, they made the arrangements to change her flights, to get her through customs, to have the airline accommodate her in Dubai. They also gave her some cash as well, amounting to $600. In addition, DFAT had been involved in the case for over 4 years and were fully aware as to the reasons for the RTA. DFAT recommended one way tickets (as they considered this was sufficient to meet the girls needs), it being believed that it was in their best interests to RTA where their mother might have greater job prospects and means to support them. They were aware that Tommaso might change his mind so they assisted in changing the flight details, as mentioned previously.
Hague Convention
Considering that Hague Convention only comes into play if there is an abduction as DFAT were not only fully complicit in the permanent removal (RTA) of the family to Australia on one way travel, one can only assume that this legal removal of Australian citizens back to their home country on compassionate grounds and their part funding of said travel would indicate that no abduction took place. Or if it did, had the full support of the Australian Government. Therefore, the Hague Convention should not apply in this case. If the Hague Convention is irrelevant then this begs the question as to why this has been pursued so vigorously up to the high court when clearly no abduction has taken place.
Lack of Child Support
Earlier this year Tommaso sent Laura a document from the Italian equivalent of the Child Support Agency. He was requesting that Laura provide her Italian ID and signature so as to enable him to receive child care payments from the Italian government. He in turn is supposed to pass these child care payments but he never has. This is NOT from his income, these are the government paid endowments. He has never contributed anything from his own pocket. This document can also be produced for verification.
Contact with his Daughters
In two years since the children were in Australia, he had made no more than 5 attempts to contact them via telephone. All this time they have been here, he has known their home address, their phone numbers, Laura’s phone number, and the emails of Laura, Emily and Claire. He and his family have also been Facebook ‘friends’ with Emily and Claire since they relocated and until recently when the girls chose to remove them from their ‘friends’ list. He has simply not made any effort to contact them.
Medical Evidence of Severity of Tommaso’s Mental Health Issues
The documents demonstrate Tommaso is suffering from ongoing chronic psychoses. He was being treated for Bipolar disorder and manic depression. He was taking Seroquel among others. He would not remain hospitalised because he said there was nothing wrong with him and he did not want to be there. It is understood he checked himself out of the hospital on occasion, against advice. His Italian doctor has given testimony to back this up and we have documents to substantiate this.
Lilian’s Diary
Laura found out Lilian had been keeping a ‘diary’ of sorts for the last few months. What is attached is an incomplete version. Emily and Claire also kept diaries whilst in foster care. All the children are on video giving graphic accounts of their version as to treatment of their mother and the behaviour of their father, in addition to their wishes in this case, which makes compelling viewing. We hold all documents to support this release.
AFP Detainment – at the Home
Events regarding the detainment and deportation of the four girls back to Italy in the past 24 hours have been grossly unjust. Several AFP officers who were carrying firearms arrived at the house in two cars. The children were taken out one by one. A woman from DOCS would not allow Laura to say goodbye to the two younger girls. The AFP as has been seen in the media reports used extreme and excessive force to extract the girls from their home and force them into cars. The girls were visibly distressed and screaming for help as this occurred. No parent would ever like to see their child that way, under any circumstances. There are no words to adequately describe their mothers emotions at seeing her daughters treated in such a manner, without the opportunity of an adequate farewell.
AFP Deportation – at the Airport
The girls were immediately taken to Brisbane International Airport where they were kept in a secure area awaiting the departure of a 2:30am flight. As has been seen in the media, the girls were rough housed out of the car when arriving at the airport. One of the older girls was seen handcuffed, face blackened, being forcefully pulled along by two male and one female police officers as if she were a piece of luggage. She was screaming for someone to help her and when she spotted her mother, she screamed for her mother to help her.
The mother is extremely upset as you would imagine, being torn away from her daughters in the manner that she was.
We hope that the media and public will give her some privacy in the hope that we can somehow pick up and move forward from these devastating events that the girls, the mother and the family have been subjected to in the past 24 hours.
Also available:
- A letter from Emily and Claire to DoCS while they were in foster care.
- A handwritten letter from Emily of her own thoughts while in foster care, in her own words.
Media persons wishing to obtain relevant associated documentation are asked to contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Requests by any other means will be denied.
