Brit taxpayers fund £104,000 legal battle over lost boy… who’s never set foot in the UK

TAXPAYERS have forked out £104,000 in a five-year hunt for a missing child who has never set foot in Britain.

The boy, now seven, was born in Afghanistan.

He was left there by his parents when they came to the UK.

But they have since split and mum Hadiah Hashimi claims her ex Sayed refuses to tell her where her son is now.

She took Sayed to court for the first time in 2011, with each side hiring top lawyers funded by legal aid.

The battle has lasted five years — even reaching the Court of Appeal — and there is no end in sight.

At a hearing last month, Mr Justice Holman admitted there was “not a shred of evidence” the boy had “ever set foot in the United Kingdom”.

The case came before a UK court because the boy inherited British citizenship from his dad.

London’s High Court heard Hadiah thought the boy would be brought to the UK soon after she left Afghanistan.

An earlier hearing was told Sayed visited Afghanistan in January 2011 and took his son away from an uncle.

Mr Justice Holman revealed the £104,000 legal aid cost and ordered Sayed to answer questions about the lad’s whereabouts or face jail at a hearing next year.

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