Man Steals Daughter While Wife Was Shopping in Mothercare, Takes Her to Libya

A heartbroken mother has told of the terrifying moment her husband kidnapped her baby and took her to Libya – while she shopped in Mothercare.

Mal Szymanowicz, 34, was looking at clothes for the 15-week-old tot when the baby’s father snatched her and flew to the lawless city of Tripoli.

The cruel dad is refusing to return little Talia to the safety of her home in Britain – and her mum fears she will never see her again. Father Maher Belaid, 35, said he would rather go to jail than give up the “tug of love” child and is now serving a six-and-a-half year prison sentence.

Tearful Mal, 34, said: “My heart is broken, I can’t even put my pain into words. “I wonder if I will ever see my beautiful daughter again. I cry every single day for her. She was only 15 weeks old when she was stolen, now she is two. It’s so long since I held her in my arms, they feel so empty. What Belaid has done is beyond cruel. He has deprived Talia of a mother and me of my only child. It’s a physical pain that never goes away. It’s like being in a neverending nightmare – there must be someone out there who can help me get my baby girl back.”

Libyan national Belaid was in Britain working in a pizza takeaway when he met Mal and they later married before having Talia. Their marriage – the only thing which allowed Belaid to stay in the UK – broke down soon after Talia was born. It was then that Belaid made a plan behind Mal’s back to secretly take their child from the couple’s home in Barry, South Wales, and travel to the North African country which is in the midst of a bloody civil war.

Mal said: “”It was an ordinary day and we went shopping as a family into town. While I was buying new clothes for Talia my husband said he would go for a coffee with Talia but instead he kidnapped her and took her to Libya.”

Mal has been apart from her daughter since November 2012 – and has only seen her during brief Skype calls. Little Talia, now two, is being looked after by Belaid’s Libyan family and calls her grandmother “mum”.

Mal added: “I’ve been allowed to see her on Skype for a few minutes but she now calls my husband’s mother ‘mum’. She doesn’t even really know who I am.” Belaid returned to the UK earlier this year, but didn’t bring Talia with him and was arrested at Gatwick airport for abduction. Cardiff Crown Court heard how his baby snatch was inspired by his uncle Mohammed, who also stayed in Libya with his young daughter and has not allowed her to return to Britain. Judge Patrick Harrington QC told Maher to return Talia to the UK but he refused to co-operate.

He said: “You put into effect a cruel deception and the torment you have inflicted on a very nice girl is simply beyond measure. Rarely have I seen a case of such unspeakable cruelty.” Mal has written to the Prime Minister and the British Embassy in Libya begging for help but is no closer to bringing her little girl home.

Source: Mirror