Campagining former regional press journalist Stan Szecowka is on his way back to the UK to help a British expat mum win a custody fight.

Stan, a former Northcliffe deputy editor now editing Gulf Weekly in Bahrain, has launched a bid to help mum Rebecca Jones win back her son Adam after he was taken by her late ex-husband’s family.

Now Stan is flying back to Britain to hand-deliver a petition to Prime Minister Gordon Brown urging him to support Rebecca’s fight.

He will deliver it alongside copies of the comments received from thousands of readers urging the UK government to put pressure on the Qatari authorities for justice and to assist her appeal for custody.

Said Stan: “Mrs Jones is a British passport-holding Muslim expat mother who was tricked into signing legal documents in Arabic.

“We believe ten-year-old Adam Jones should be returned to his mother Rebecca, little sister Alex and step-father, Barrie, to their Bahrain home and reunited with his school friends.”

Gulf Weekly, Bahrain’s biggest-selling English language newspaper, has published a front page petition showing a photograph of Adam’s bicycle leaning against a palm tree in his back garden which has a yellow ribbon tied around it – the international symbol of those waiting for loved ones to return.

On Monday, Sheffield-born Mrs Jones received the first glimmer of hope when a Qatari court ruled in her favour over visitation rights.

However, on Wednesday she and a British embassy official were refused entry into the residence where he is being held. A new legal appeal over Adam’s custody has now been lodged.