Levi Nkem Egeneonu v Ijeoma Egeneonu
| Jurisdiction | England & Wales |
| Judge | Lord Justice Henderson,Lord Justice Peter Jackson,Lady Justice Sharp |
| Judgment Date | 18 July 2018 |
| Neutral Citation | [2018] EWCA Civ 1714 |
| Docket Number | Case No: B4/2018/1315 |
| Court | Court of Appeal (Civil Division) |
| Date | 18 July 2018 |
[2018] EWCA Civ 1714
IN THE COURT OF APPEAL (CIVIL DIVISION)
ON APPEAL FROM THE FAMILY DIVISION
Mr Justice Cohen
FD13P02234
Royal Courts of Justice
Strand, London, WC2A 2LL
Lady Justice Sharp
Lord Justice Henderson
and
Lord Justice Peter Jackson
Case No: B4/2018/1315
The Appellant appeared in person
Brian Jubb (instructed by Bindmans LLP) for the Respondent
Hearing date: 18 July 2018
Judgment Approved
On 1 May 2018, Levi Bernard Egeneonu, also known as Bernard Nkem, was sentenced by Cohen J to 18 months imprisonment for contempt of court. He has exercised his right of appeal and this court has today heard his appeal. Mr Egeneonu, who was represented by counsel at the committal hearing, appears today in person by his own choice.
The background
The proceedings arise in this way. Mr and Mrs Egeneonu were married in Nigeria in 2001 and came to England, where Mr Egeneonu had already been living, in 2002. They have three sons, all of whom were born here. They are C (16), O (13) and I (11). In 2013, the family went to Nigeria on holiday. The mother was separated against her will from the children and has not seen them since.
Both parents then returned to England. On 30 January 2014, Russell J made the children wards of court and ordered Mr Egeneonu to arrange for their return. Instead, a week later he went to Nigeria and disengaged from the proceedings. On 6 March 2015, Newton J found him to be in contempt at a hearing at which he was represented and in which he participated by telephone: [2015] EWHC (Fam) 954. The breaches of court orders were, broadly:
a) Obtaining travel documents to enable him to leave the UK.
b) Leaving the UK and travelling to Nigeria.
c) Breaching a non-molestation undertaking in March 2014 by phoning the mother and saying he would never return the children from Nigeria, and putting pressure on the mother to withdraw her wardship application by making threats to her and her family.
d) Failing to produce the children and to return them to the UK by 14 February 2014.
e) Failing to book tickets to effect the return of the children.
f) Failing to attend three hearings in March 2014.
Sentencing was adjourned to allow Mr Egeneonu to arrange for the return of the children. He did not do this and on 8 May 2015 Newton J sentenced him to 12 months imprisonment.
Mrs Egeneonu sought to have Mr Egeneonu extradited and for that purpose argued before Sir James Munby P that Newton J's findings amounted to findings of criminal contempt. This was unsuccessful: [2017] EWHC (Fam) 43.
However, Mr Egeneonu returned to the UK and on 26 March 2017 he was arrested and imprisoned to serve the sentence imposed by Newton J. On 29 June 2017, he unsuccessfully attempted to purge his contempt. On 8 August 2017, Roberts J made orders requiring him to inform his relative Victor Egeneonu of certain matters designed to ensure the children's return.
While Mr Egeneonu's sentence was being served, Mrs Egeneonu applied for his further committal. That application was adjourned at his request on 30 August 2017 by MacDonald J ( [2017] EWHC (Fam) 2451) and heard on 11–12 and 19 September 2017 by Mr David Williams QC: [2017] EWHC (Fam) 2336. He committed Mr Egeneonu to prison for a further period of 15 months. The charges proved related to:
a) Harassment of the mother.
b) Failure to attend four hearings.
c) Failing to provide information or providing false information about the children's whereabouts.
On 10 November 2017, Cohen J ordered Mr Egeneonu to cause the return of the children to this country by 15 December 2017.
On 9 February 2018, Williams J (as he had become) ordered Mr Egeneonu to cause the return of the children to this country by 27 February 2018.
The present committal application
On 28 February 2018, Mrs Egeneonu made a further application for committal on six counts. She alleged that Mr Egeneonu was in breach of the orders of Roberts J, Cohen J and Williams J, and that he had in three respects interfered with the administration of justice by providing false evidence.
On 21 and 23 March 2018, Williams J heard argument on whether Mrs Egeneonu should have leave to pursue the three counts relating to the interference with justice. He granted that permission and he declined to exclude the evidence of transcripts of telephone calls made by Mr Egeneonu from prison in June-August 2017. He refused Mr Egeneonu's application to purge his contempt. His judgment, delivered on 24 April and published on 6 June 2018, is to be found at [2018] EWHC (Fam) 1392.
The matter came before Cohen J on 26–27 April and 1 May 2018. Both parties were represented. The judge heard from them both and from one witness (the translator). A great deal of the evidence centred on transcripts of the telephone calls. Typically, in one call he was recorded as stating ‘Let it be known that I do not want these children to come over here and I do not want these people to know their whereabouts.’
The judge found the following charges proved:
1. Failure to inform Victor Egeneonu of the matters required by the order of Roberts J.
2. Failure to secure the return of the children as required by Cohen J.
3. Failure to secure the return of the children as required by Williams J.
4. Causing the child C in August 2017 to write a letter to the court with the intention of misleading the court about the children's wishes and feelings.
5. Sending a false statement of a witness to the court in August 2017.
6. Making false written statements about the whereabouts of the children, his ability to secure their return and his relationship with Victor Egeneonu.
The judge reviewed the copious transcripts of the father's conversations. He rejected Mr Egeneonu's claims that the transcripts were inadequate, and described as absurd and fantastical his evidence that the calls were in some cases not made by him and in others did not refer to these children. He found that Mr Egeneonu was controlling the situation from prison and that he had the power to bring the children back, but in fact did not want them to return. He sentenced Mr Egeneonu to 18 months imprisonment on each count, to be served concurrently.
This appeal
On 22 May 2018, Mr Egeneonu filed an appellant's notice. On 22 June, King LJ ordered that he be produced from custody for this hearing. On 26 June, this court granted legal aid to Mr Egeneonu so that he could continue to be represented by his former lawyers, but on about 10 July, Mr Egeneonu chose to represent himself. Mrs Egeneonu is represented today by Mr Jubb.
Mr Egeneonu's arguments are contained in a number of documents: his appellant's notice, a brief skeleton argument (6 pages), a skeleton...
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Ijeoma Nkem Egeneonu v Victor Egeneonu
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