‘I know I’ll get caught, but each day with my son is precious.’ – Rebecca Minnock

The mum who fled with her son after losing a custody battle insists the youngster is safe, as she feared police were closing in on the pair.

Rebecca Minnock reportedly went on the run because she “lost faith in the system” when a judge decided her boy Ethan, three, should live with his dad.

The 35-year-old reportedly told the Sun: “I know I’m going to get caught, but each day I get with my son is precious. We’re both fine and he’s very happy. I know I’m going to be in trouble. I didn’t think it would go to this extent.

“I didn’t realise my family would get into trouble. I’m sorry for what I’ve done, but I have to put my son first.”

Rebecca’s relatives believe she will never seen Ethan again once they are found.

A court ruled she was obstructing ex-partner Roger Williams’ access to the boy and said she made “false” ­allegations during a custody battle. Her aunt ­Caroline Minnock, 54, said: “She spoke to her brother to say she is fine, but from a ­withheld number.

“We don’t even know if she’s in the UK. She’s in big trouble. She won’t see Ethan again. She won’t even get visitation.”

Little Ethan, from Highbridge, Somerset, had always lived with his mother since his parents separated in February 2013, and his father applied for contact in March 2013.

She disappeared on May 26 – the day before a district judge ruled Ethan should live with his dad after decided Miss Minnock had made false allegations and obstructed contact.

Police launched an investigation to find Ethan, at the same time as her family started a campaign insisting she had been “let down” by social services, police and the courts…

Rebecca Minnock, 35, and her son Ethan, 3