A YOUNG brother and sister from York were kidnapped while on holiday, sparking an international police rescue operation.

The ten-year-old girl and eight-year-old boy from the city centre, who have since been reunited with their mother, were abducted by their father during a holiday in Turkey.

The boy managed to run away, but the girl remained separated from her brother and mother for more than a month, it has emerged.

The case has now been resolved after the mother, a Turkish national, turned to York police for help. She had taken the children to Turkey to see their grandparents, but the children and their passports were snatched by her estranged husband.

A few days later, the boy escaped after asking his father if he could play outside and was reunited with his mother.

Despite contacting police in Turkey and a local judge, the 31-year-old mother was forced to return to York without her daughter.

The Turkish authorities would not intervene, as the child was with her natural father, reportedly in Istanbul, despite the fact he had taken her by force.

After failing to persuade her husband to give her daughter back and after giving up hope with the Turkish police, the woman walked into Fulford Road Police Station to seek help.

Police, City of York Council’s education department and Esmé Madill from Refugee Action York agreed to help, and made provision for the boy to return to Britain without his passport.

A bid to get the girl back was launched under the Hague Convention, which aims to help parents get back children wrongfully held abroad, but North Yorkshire Police feared it would take too long.

Detectives then tracked down a phone number for the children's father and began a lengthy negotiation process, which finally led to him agreeing to bring the girl back to England.

They used the man’s family to put pressure on him and also suggested it would be difficult for him to ever return to the UK if he did not co- operate.

When he arrived at Manchester Airport earlier this month the father was served with a string of county court orders, with injunctions ordering him to hand his daughter back to his estranged wife and banning him from approaching the family or their home.

Detective Chief Inspector Nigel Costello, of York CID, said the case should make victims of crime abroad realise their home police force could help them. He said: “Thankfully, this case had a happy and swift conclusion. When we spoke to the girl over the phone, she expressed her wish to return to her mum and brother and to see her friends at school.

“There is no evidence that she was mistreated by her father. However, she is now rightly back with her family and we are providing them with the assistance they need to recover from their ordeal. The police, the local authority and Refugee Action York have worked tirelessly and displayed great commitment.”

The case was originally reported to York Police on September 8, and the daughter returned to England on October 10, police said. The father does not face charges, because British police have no jurisdiction in Turkey.