Exiled mother flies home from Malta to joyful reunion

Leigha Collins, 19, was told to return to Malta after a court ruled that one-year-old Hayes had to be close to his father. She wept with joy after being allowed to fly back and to be reunited with her oldest son, Alfie, two, who she has not seen for ten months
Leigha Collins, 19, was told to return to Malta after a court ruled that one-year-old Hayes had to be close to his father. She wept with joy after being allowed to fly back and to be reunited with her oldest son, Alfie, two, who she has not seen for ten months

A young mother exiled to Malta as part of a protracted custody case has been allowed to return to Scotland with her son.

Leigha Collins, 19, had been on the island after a court ruled that one-year-old Hayes had to be close to his father, Kyle Borg, 21. She wept with joy after being allowed to fly back and reunite with her oldest son, Alfie, two, who she has not seen since being told to return to Malta ten months ago.

After months of negotiations, Borg agreed on Friday for Collins and Hayes to return to her home in Kinghorn, Fife, and that he will see his son four times a year. “I don’t know how I’ve found the strength to survive the last year