https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tX3pD0MwQxQ&feature=youtu.be

Yesterday, Desmond Tutu’s Zimbabwean grandson and his mother, who have now entered their third week of being holed up at the Zimbabwean Embassy London, appeared at the hearing in court via Video link.

Prior to the hearing, the Teen had made all attempts to contact Mr Justice MacDonald, to affirm his position that he wanted his ICO to be discharged, that he had dis-instructed his solicitor – Gordon Reed, that he had never ever instructed the discredited solicitor to submit a Documents Restriction Order barring his mother from accessing all his medical, police and social services records for the entire period he has been in care, that his solicitor and his South African social worker – Jabu Sibeko, had coerced him to lie and state that his mother had physically abused him when she had ripped his passport as she was trying to retrieve it from him to prevent him from absconding and that is was his solicitor who had lied in his statements and stated that he never had two homes, when in actual fact he has always had one permanent home in Zimbabwe and one temporary home in Switzerland since 2013.

The issue before the court yesterday was whether the Teen had actually made these statements or the mother and if it was the Teen, whether he had made them under duress. Justice MacDonald had avoided a video conference with the Teen, which he had requested prior to the hearing, as the Teen wanted to clarify this issue before the hearing yesterday so that the Friday hearing would then only focus on the Teen’s wishes and feelings. The Teen ended up sending a video clip to the judge, in an attempt to drive home his message

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByzgcWNXJjkob2hZdGU4MVFxakk/view?usp=sharing

At the hearing, the LB of Sutton fought vehemently to force the Teen to retain the solicitor G Reed that he had ousted. And when Mr Justice MacDonald conceded that Mr G Reed had to cease acting as the Teen’s legal representative because of their irreparable professional relationship the LB of Sutton still went to great pains, to try to convince the judge that the Teen should revert to being represented by his Children’s Guardian, Ms Claire Brooks.

In October 2015, the Judge had made a decision that the Teen should have his own solicitor, after he had determined that the conflict of interest between the Teen and the children’s guardian was so vast that there was no way his wishes and feelings could be represented by her. The children’s guardian had always taken the position of the LB of Sutton and nothing had changed since then.

When the Teen was asked to state his own position in court, he blasted the judge, the local authorities and the solicitor. His message was clear and precise:- The UK had no Jurisdiction; no one therefore had the right to force him to undergo any assessment in the UK; his doctor at Huntercombe Hospital had testified that he had mental capacity on 30.03.2016.

The Teen asked the judge to pause one question to the LB of Sutton, the Guardian and whoever is opposing his decision to go to Zimbabwe the question “Is the Interim Care Order going to be discharged today and if not why? What are the benefits of keeping me here in the UK” The Teen demanded that the judge pose this question to the LB of Sutton there and then but the judge declined, citing that this was not a question and answer session. Instead, the judge stated that he needed to get a mental assessment of the Teen done first and secondly he needed to ascertain that the views the Teen had stated were his own. The Teen’s response was that he would never subject himself to any assessment in the UK because of the corruption he had experienced and if  at all an assessment were to be conducted, that would be by  a doctor of his own choice.

The Teen raised further questions, “Why does the LB of Sutton want to keep me here when I am not a resident or Citizen of the UK, I was just here on a short visit as a tourist, they have failed to send me to school for one year and all they have done is to abuse me while in their care?”

The Teen got so emotional that at one point he stated that when he listens to the hearing in court its like hearing people in suits but they are acting like babies in diapers.

The Teen’s mother is being threatened with imprisonment for failing to comply with the judge’s collection order. So before the end of the hearing, the Teen asked the judge, “Is my mother liable to arrest if she leaves the embassy of Zimbabwe?” Justice MacDonald’s response was, “I have made a Collection order in respect of you and the court requires your mother to obey that order” that means, the mother should have forced the 16 year old, to leave the embassy against his wishes and feelings and be placed back in the juvenile prison that he had run away from. The Teen asked further, “And is it an offense if she doesn’t obey the order and release me to you?” and the Judge’s response was, “It is”.

The Teen’s response was “Is my mother holding a gun to my head now? How is she forcing me to say something? I ran all the way to the embassy and she didn’t even know about it. How is she going to force me to say something that I do not want at my age? I am actually taller than her?”

The hearing was adjoined after the mother had burst out and shouted at the judge and the other parties for holding them at ransom and depriving them of their freedom of movement.

John Hemming, former Lib. Dem. MP of Birmingham, who listened to the Hearing as the Teen’s proposed McKenzie Friend, advised the Teen to alert the judge to the Fact that the LB of Sutton must provide solid evidence as to why they would want to deprive him of his Liberty to move to Zimbabwe. John has been vocal about the Teen’s predicament and has taken this case to the media.

Below are the links to the ITV & BBC Broadcasts.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByzgcWNXJjkoeTdQMWJjcjBQOTQ/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByzgcWNXJjkodlZlWnVMYnJDQWM/view?usp=sharing

The judge reserved his ruling and will make the decision early next week.

In the meantime, the Teen and his mother will spend another weekend in solitary confinement at the Embassy.

The second school term in Zimbabwe starts early May and the Teen was looking forward to going back to school. It looks like the LB of Sutton is determined to rack the Teen’s only chance of getting back to a mainstream school and pursuing his music career.-Online