Missing jaw cancer boy 'is in Poland and could return to UK by Christmas'

A 10-year-old boy who vanished after a judge was told that he had cancer in his jaw and needed ''urgent surgery'' is with his mother in Poland and could be back in the UK by Christmas, a family court has heard.

Specialists had told Mr Justice Mostyn that the boy would die a ''brutal and agonising death'' within six months to a year if a tumour was not removed ''very soon''.

And concerns were raised in October when Mr Justice Mostyn heard that the youngster, who is Polish but cannot be identified, had disappeared.

Mr Justice Mostyn was told that there was evidence that the youngster had left his home in England with his mother and evidence that his father had boarded a ferry bound for France.

The judge - who analysed the case at hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in London - had urged the boy's parents to co-operate with doctors.

Lawyers involved in the case today told another judge at another hearing in the Family Division of the High Court in London that the boy had been traced to an address in Poland.

They told Mr Justice MacDonald that the youngster was with his mother and that his father had returned to England.

The judge was told that the boy's parents had sought a second opinion in Poland.

Lawyers said the plan was for mother and child to return to England by Christmas.

Mr Justice MacDonald today heard submissions from lawyers representing the hospital, the boy's father and from Cafcass - a Government-funded social work organisation which reviews local authority plans for children.

The case is due to be re-analysed at a further family court hearing in January.

An NHS trust with responsibility for the boy's care had asked Mr Justice Mostyn to rule that specialists could perform surgery.

Doctors said the youngster's parents preferred to treat their son with ''Chinese medicine''.

The judge said the couple had ''not engaged'' in court proceedings.

Mr Justice Mostyn said he had concluded that surgery was in the boy's best interests - notwithstanding his parents' lack of consent.