Sheffield mum fears she will never see young son again

Two months after Tina Kayani, aged 41, publicised the disappearance of her three-year-old son, Cole Saheb, she said she has been left devastated at the lack of progress being made with her case.

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Her ex, 40-year-old Farokh Mahmodpour Saheb, snatched their son during a custody visit and took him to Iran without Tina’s consent.

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Cole has been missing since March 2018.

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His disappearance was investigated by South Yorkshire Police initially before the case was handed over to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office when it was discovered that the young boy had been taken to Iran.

Sheffield MP Jill Furniss has had meetings about the case, but Tina fears she is no closer to being reunited with her son.

She is upset that an online Go Fund Me page set up help pay for legal fees and detectives in Iran was closed down before enough money could be raised to pay specialists to work on her case.

Go Fund Me said the page was closed down due to administrative issues but staff will make contact with the family to discuss what can be done next.

“I feel lost, sad angry and frustrated that he (Cole’s dad) has been able to get away with this and that there is nothing more I can do here in the UK,” said Tina, who has two other children.

“We had £1,290 to be able to start with a private detective but then it was all refunded to people.

“I’m heartbroken. I feel like a piece of me is missing.”

She added: “It is no good for us, we miss him terribly and all we want is him back.

“I am thinking to myself that I’ve got no hope of getting him back now.”

Tina met Cole’s father, who she knew as Freddie, while he worked in a takeaway in Sheffield during the 15 years he lived in the city.

He ignored a court order which stipulated the access he had to his son and banned him from taking the youngster out of the country.

Farokh has sent some photographs of Cole to Tina since he was snatched, but contact has ceased since the kidnap was made public.

He refuses to say where the pair are living and has warned Tina that she may never see their son again.

Cole’s parents were in a relationship for six years before they split when Tina became pregnant in late 2015.

Farokh left Sheffield and returned to Iran before Cole was born but returned to the city four months after his birth.

He snatched Cole when he was 20 months old.

Anyone with information should call South Yorkshire Police on 101.