Christina Block: All about the custody battle and kidnapping allegations before the trial begins

In a covert operation on New Year's Eve 2023/24, two children of Hamburg restaurant entrepreneur Christina Block (52) were brought from Denmark to Germany . Kidnapped, according to the public prosecutor's office. Two days later, the boy and girl were with their mother, who has been fighting over custody with her ex-husband for years.

A trial for the alleged kidnapping begins on July 11 before a youth protection chamber at the Hamburg Regional Court, among others against Block and her partner, television presenter Gerhard Delling (66).

The daughter of the founder of the Block House restaurant chain, Eugen Block (84), has been fighting for almost four years for her daughter, born in 2010, and her son, born in 2013. Both children have been living with their father , Stephan Hensel (51), in Denmark since the end of August 2021. According to the Hamburg public prosecutor's office, he unlawfully kept them with him after a weekend visit in accordance with his access rights.

Christina Block had not been able to see her children for more than two years, although she also had custody and even the right to determine their place of residence, her lawyer Otmar Kury explained about his client's situation at the end of 2023. The divorced couple have two other older children, one of whom lives with her father and one with her mother.

According to the public prosecutor's office, at least five men ambushed the father and children in southern Denmark on New Year's Eve 2023/24. The perpetrators allegedly beat Hensel and dragged the children into a car. Danish police reported at the time that the father was attacked near a restaurant while watching the New Year's Eve fireworks with his two children in the town of Gråsten (Gravenstein). The perpetrators fled in two cars with German license plates. Gråsten is located approximately 30 kilometers northeast of Flensburg.

According to the Hamburg public prosecutor's office, the kidnappers allegedly switched vehicles near the border. They taped the children's mouths. The then 13-year-old daughter was reportedly handcuffed. The group reportedly continued on to Baden-Württemberg in a camper van. The children were allegedly held there until their mother arrived on January 2, 2024.

In spring 2024, the Hamburg police publicly searched for a Fiat Ducato with the license plate PF for Pforzheim. The motorhome was reportedly registered to a person in Wurmberg in the Enz district. According to the public prosecutor's office, it has not yet been found.

On January 2, 2024, Hamburg police visited Christina Block's home in northeast Hamburg. A police spokesperson subsequently stated that suspicious individuals had been reported there. However, an investigation revealed that they were authorized individuals.

On January 3, the police, together with the Youth Welfare Office, visited Christina Block's family again. "We were able to confirm that the children are with Ms. Block and appear to be physically well," a police spokeswoman said the following day.

On January 5, 2024, the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court ruled, based on an urgent application by the father, that the children must be returned to him. This was done that same day. The interim order granted the father sole custody and custody of the children.

The mother, along with a 63-year-old German man, is alleged to have ordered the forcible removal of her two children from the custody of their father, who also had custody. To plan and carry out the plan, they allegedly hosted several people free of charge in a luxury hotel in Hamburg using false identities. Last year, the public prosecutor's office searched the Grand Hotel Elysée, owned by the Block family, three times.

The charges against Block and the 63-year-old are joint aggravated abduction of minors in conjunction with dangerous bodily harm and deprivation of liberty. The mother is also accused of severe abuse of those in her care.

Christina Block's defense attorney, Otmar Kury, accuses the public prosecutor's office of bias, unreasonable suspicions, and legal errors. He emphasizes: "Ms. Block is an absolutely law-abiding person!" The father kidnapped the children and took them to Denmark in 2021.

The Hanseatic Higher Regional Court subsequently ordered him to return the children immediately. It had granted the mother sole custody of their children. According to a court spokesperson, the decision of October 21, 2021, was a temporary injunction.

According to the defense attorney, the grandmother who had died on July 21, 2023 – a good five months before the crime – commissioned the kidnapping. "After the investigations conducted by Ms. Block and me, it was determined that the grandmother, who loved her grandchildren and had suffered severe psychological damage as a result of the unlawful kidnapping of the two grandchildren, had probably given the order to bring the children back from Denmark," Kury told the German Press Agency in Hamburg.

The sports journalist and television presenter allegedly organized Christina Block's travel to Baden-Württemberg and coordinated her return to Hamburg with her children. Delling is also suspected of making false statements to criminal investigators. The public prosecutor's office has charged him with aiding and abetting. The court has indicated that a conviction as an accomplice is also a possibility.

Delling's defense attorney, David Rieks, stated: "The allegations of suspicion leveled against my client are factually and legally inaccurate. We will vigorously and comprehensively oppose them."

Yes, a 35-year-old Israeli. He is alleged to have been directly involved in the kidnapping along with five other men. According to the public prosecutor's office, he was arrested on September 27, 2024, upon entering Cyprus . An international arrest warrant had previously been issued at the request of the Hamburg public prosecutor's office. Target investigators from the State Criminal Police Office brought the suspect to Hamburg, it was reported at the time.

He has been in custody since the beginning of November. The charges against him are the same as those against Christina Block: joint aggravated abduction of minors in conjunction with dangerous bodily harm, deprivation of liberty, and severe abuse of persons in his care.

A 58-year-old German man, head of a Hamburg security company, allegedly provided security for Christina Block's property to prevent the children from escaping. He is charged with aiding and abetting the joint aggravated abduction of minors in conjunction with dangerous bodily harm and deprivation of liberty. A woman (49) and a man (56) from Christina Block's circle face the same charge.

Investigations were also conducted against the children's grandfather, Eugen Block, and an uncle. No concrete involvement in the kidnapping could be proven, the public prosecutor's office stated. Four other people who were allegedly involved in the purchase of the mobile home and who had sheltered the kidnappers and the children in Baden-Württemberg were unaware of the circumstances of the crime.

According to the public prosecutor's office, a hotel employee who allegedly cleaned up traces of the room on January 8, 2024, made such a minor contribution to the crime that the investigation against her was discontinued. Five other suspected kidnappers are still being sought.

Until a final conviction, all defendants are presumed innocent. However, if they are found guilty at the end of the trial, the penalties are based on the offense for which the law imposes the most severe punishment. The Criminal Code provides for a minimum sentence of one year for the aggravated abduction of minors and the aggravated abuse of persons in their care, and a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.

The court has scheduled 37 hearings through December 23. However, in a case involving seven defendants, many parties, and a complex set of facts, delays are not uncommon.

An appeal can be filed up to one week after the verdict. The appeal must be justified after the written verdict has been submitted. The criminal chamber is not required to submit the written verdict until 13 weeks after the verdict, with 37 days of hearings. The Federal Court of Justice then typically decides within six to nine months. It is therefore possible that there will be no final verdict before the end of next year.

The two children could be heard as witnesses in the trial. Because of their particular vulnerability as victims of a crime, the public prosecutor's office has filed charges with a youth protection chamber. The chamber could exclude the public from the children's hearings for their protection.

Numerous media representatives are expected to attend the trial. Due to the large number of attendees, Presiding Judge Isabel Hildebrandt has ordered an accreditation process for the reserved seats.

Yes, they are being represented by lawyers as joint plaintiffs. Hensel has announced that he intends to follow the trial personally, and according to information from dpa, his 14-year-old daughter intends to testify publicly against her mother in court.

The custody dispute between Christina Block and her ex-husband recently also presided over the Federal Constitutional Court . The Karlsruhe judges rejected an appeal by Ms. Block. The reasoning, published online on May 13, stated that all four of their children initially lived with their mother after the couple's separation in 2014 and divorce in 2018. A visitation arrangement for visits with their father, who lives in Denmark, had been in place since 2015. In July 2021, the eldest daughter moved in with her father by agreement with her mother.

Since August 2021, the two youngest children have also been living with their father. After a weekend visit, he announced that he would not return them to their mother because of her "child-endangering" behavior. The exact allegations are not officially known.

The children's continued residence with their father led to a series of legal proceedings in Germany and Denmark. In October 2021, the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court (OLG) provisionally granted the mother sole custody of their children. At the same time, the OLG ordered the father to return the children to the mother.

The decision was not implemented by the Danish authorities. Background: Denmark is the only EU country that does not automatically recognize decisions made by courts of other member states in custody disputes. It has not signed the corresponding EU regulation.

Christina Block therefore applied in Denmark for recognition of the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court's decision. However, in December 2021, after hearing the children's case, a Danish district court declared the enforcement of the German decision inadmissible, as the Federal Constitutional Court further noted.

Christina Block filed an application for the return of her children in Denmark in 2022 under the Danish Child Abduction Act. In February 2023, a court subsequently ruled that although the boy and girl had been illegally brought to Denmark, they could not be returned.

According to the information, the Danish court invoked a paragraph stating that a child should not be returned if doing so would entail a serious risk of physical or psychological harm. A second obstacle mentioned above exists if the child opposes the return or is of such age and maturity that their opinion should be taken into account.

In principle, not. The Hamburg Family Court declared itself incompetent in October 2023. This decision was reportedly supported by the Higher Regional Court at the end of November.

In February 2024, the same court rejected an appeal by Christina Block, finding, like the Danish court, that due to the children's consistent statements that they wanted to live with their father, a move to Germany could not be enforced. Both children had integrated socially in their new place of residence and spoke Danish.

Possibly not. The Hamburg public prosecutor's office has filed charges against him and his new Danish wife for abducting minors. The district court refused to open a trial. However, the public prosecutor's office successfully appealed. The regional court ordered the opening of the main proceedings. It is still unclear which court will try the father's case.

Hensel's lawyer, Philip von der Meden, argues that the father protected his children from violence. He stated last year: "Should the case go to trial, I consider an acquittal for my client imperative. Protecting one's children from violence should not be a criminal offense." The defense attorney added: "In any case, I welcome the comprehensive investigation into the children's allegations of violence against their mother."

Christina Block's lawyer, Kury, commented on the allegations against his client: "This is the subject of the family court proceedings, and the mother has always said that she, of course, did not hit the children, and there is no evidence for this." Psychologists have repeatedly found that the children were heavily influenced by their father and that their statements in this regard are not credible.

That's highly unlikely. The courts in Denmark and Germany have declared that the children's welfare is paramount. Furthermore, neither the son nor the daughter wanted to return to their mother. They have now been living with their father in Denmark for almost four years.

At the beginning of May this year, a court in Sonderburg, Denmark, awarded the father sole custody, thereby confirming a preliminary court decision of January 2, 2024.