Appeal for help to find girl, five, abducted by father

Solicitors urged anyone with information about Atiya Anjum-Wilkinson to raise the alarm so the little girl could be reunited with her mother, Gemma Wilkinson.

Atiya, who turns five today, was abducted by her father – former insurance salesman Razwan Ali Anjum – two years ago, on her third birthday, High Court judges have heard during private hearings in London.

Ms Wilkinson, a former charity worker who is in her 30s and from Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, has not seen her daughter since.

Lawyers representing Ms Wilkinson, who took legal action in an attempt to force Anjum to reveal Atiya’s whereabouts, say the little girl could be anywhere.

Anjum, also of Ashton-under-Lyne, is in prison after being jailed for contempt of court several times by High Court judges.

He has repeatedly refused to comply with a court order and reveal Atiya’s whereabouts, judges have heard.

One judge has described the case as “as bad a case of child abduction as I have encountered”.

Details of the case emerged in August at a public Court of Appeal hearing in London – where Anjum, who is in his late 20s, failed to persuade appeal judges to rule that he had been unfairly jailed for contempt.

Anjum argued that repeated prison sentences for contempt of court were unfair and served no purpose.

Lord Justice McFarlane, Lord Justice Hughes and Lord Justice Tomlinson, disagreed and dismissed Anjum’s appeal.

The three appeal judges decided that Atiya should not be identified.

But a few days ago, Lord Justice Hughes lifted the publicity ban following a challenge by journalists.

He ordered that Atiya’s name and photograph could be published after a request from the Press Association, which argued that publicity might help find the little girl.

And Ms Wilkinson’s lawyers yesterday released a photograph of Atiya – and appealed for help.

Solicitor Matthew Lord, of law firm Pluck Andrew & Co – which has an office in Ashton-under-Lyne – urged people to think carefully about whether they might have seen Atiya.

“The father has said she is now in Iran but she could well be in the UK – she could be anywhere,” said Mr Lord. “We think that one possibility is that she is in the Huddersfield area of West Yorkshire.

“We would urge people to look at her photograph and think very carefully if they might have seen her – maybe living nearby.”

Following Anjum’s failed appeal in August, Lord Justice McFarlane said it was “impossible to underestimate” the impact that the “continued limbo” was having on Ms Wilkinson.