Man who abducted daughters loses sentence appeal

Angel El Zubaidy (left) and Maya were left with their grandmother in Tripoli

A man who has been jailed five times for abducting his children has lost his sentence appeal.

Tanya Borg's daughters were taken from Pewsey in Wiltshire to Libya by their father Mohammed El Zubaidy in 2015.

Ms Borg has been fighting to get Angel El Zubaidy, 22 and her sister Maya, 11, back to Britain since El Zubaidy left them with his mother in Tripoli.

El Zubaidy was handed a 12-month jail term at the Family Division of the High Court in London in December.

Sir Johnathan Cohen concluded he had breached orders made during a High Court fight with estranged wife Tanya Borg, who is in her 40s, and was in contempt.

Ms Borg has previously tried lobbying the government to get her children home

Three judges today dismissed El Zubaidy's appeal against the sentence following a hearing in London at the Court of Appeal.

El Zubaidy, who is also in his 40s, argued the sentence imposed by Sir Jonathan was "manifestly excessive in all the circumstances".

Lord Justice Bean, Lord Justice Moylan and Lord Justice Lewis disagreed and said Sir Jonathan had not made any "error".

Four other judges had previously handed El Zubaidy jail terms after concluding he had breached orders aimed at getting his daughters back home to their mother.

El Zubaidy had been given a 12-month term in 2017, separate jail terms of two years and 12 months in 2018, and another 12-month term in 2021.