Couple admit abducting their children

The couple have pleaded guilty to abduction charges

A Shropshire couple who fled to Spain after taking their four children from social services care have pleaded guilty to abduction.

Sharon Richards, 35, and her partner Steven Hayward, 33, admitted the offence when they appeared before Shrewsbury magistrates on Thursday - less than 24 hours after being flown back to Britain under police escort.

The couple have been remanded in custody and magistrates sent their case for sentence at the town's crown court.

The court heard the couple, formerly of Bridgeford Way, in Shrewsbury, feared their children might be adopted after being placed in the care of Shropshire social services.

Mark Linkins, prosecuting, said in February the couple took their children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, from social workers during a supervised access visit in Wem.

'Acted spontaneously'

They had fled from Britain on a ferry from Portsmouth to St Malo in France, with the four youngsters, aged between three and 12, the court heard.

They were arrested in Madrid and imprisoned for four months, after detectives from West Mercia Police traced the couple and their children to a travellers' commune in southern Spain.

Hayward admitted two charges of removing a child from the lawful authority of Shropshire County Council and two counts of taking a child out of the UK without appropriate consent.

Richards admitted four counts of taking a child out of the country on 1 February.

Defence solicitor Terry Jones said: "They acted spontaneously to a set of circumstances that they were fearful of."