A father who alleges his seven-year-old son was kidnapped by his former girlfriend is pleading to have his son returned to the Island in time for Christmas.

Giovanni Burrows, the father of Jasai Swan-Burrows, has not seen his son since January 18, 2003 and has missed two of his birthdays.

Mr. Burrows told The Royal Gazette that his former girlfriend and mother of his son ? Kim Sakena Swan ? took his child off the Island that weekend on board a flight to Atlanta, Georgia. He has not seen his son for more than a year and has had no contact with Ms Swan or her family members in Bermuda.

"It has been horrible," said Mr. Burrows. "This is the worst experience of my life and the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with."

Mr. Burrows had full custody of Jasai ? but he allowed Ms Swan to see him every other weekend or on special occasions.

He believes Ms Swan's family are in touch with her and know of her whereabouts.

"If she brings him back I will drop the charges," he said.

"If not, she will have to serve the time she is awarded when she is sentenced in court."

Ms Swan and Mr. Burrows met in 1994 and developed a relationship which turned sour when Mr. Burrows decided he no longer wanted to pursue a relationship with Ms Swan.

"I tried to have a relationship with her as a friend, I broke up with her because I felt she wasn't the right person for me. She went off the deep end ? she couldn't let go," he said.

In October, 2002 Ms Swan was accused of contravening a protection order which barred her from going on to Mr. Burrows' Warwick property.

A domestic order was also put in place to keep Ms Swan away from her former boyfriend but she was given an absolute discharge at that time by Magistrate Ed King when she told the court she had a letter from her lawyer which allowed her to go on the property but could not stay there for any length of time. Mr. Burrows testified that his former lover made threatening gestures to him and drove on to his property loudly honking her horn. In retaliation, Mr. Burrows admitted in court that he threw a machete at the back of her car.

When he was interviewed by The Royal Gazette last year, Mr. Burrows said he did not believe she was coming home any time soon, as she had recently sold her nearly-new jeep for only $10,000.

At that time he also expressed disappointment with Bermuda's Family Court, saying while he and Ms Swan had been before a judge at least 15 times over the last several years, she had contravened with every court order placed before her.

He said the courts often let him down, giving Ms Swan just a "slap on the wrist" every time she breached a court order.

Ms Swan also did not turn in her travel documents according to Mr. Burrows, which allowed her to leave the Island.

Today, however, Mr. Burrows is willing to put the past behind him to have his son returned. Although he said he will be forgiving of Ms Swan's actions, he said she will no longer have unsupervised visits with Jasai. "Her mother and family need to fess up," Mr. Burrows said. "They need to contact her and have her send my son back.

"I know that someone is communicating with her and sending her messages. I am hoping to send the message through the media so they can tell her that I will make no complaint if she returns my son in December."

Ms Swan's mother, Orline Swan, refused to comment ? except to say that Mr. Burrows needs to get his facts straight.

But Mr. Burrows just wants to get his son home.

"My son is getting older, I have missed two of his birthdays," he said. "I just can't take it anymore. This is a heart-breaking situation, I've missed out on so much of my son's life."

Sgt. Mark Clarke of the Juvenile Domestic Crime Unit told The Royal Gazette that Jasai's abduction investigation is still ongoing and anyone with information is asked to call him at the Juvenile Domestic Crime Unit or CrimeStoppers.