Separating from husband with 2 year old son

So this is my first time posting on here, i am also posting on behalf of my sister looking for advice and my whole family is literally stunned at our lack of options right now.

So up until 3 days ago my sister was married and lived with both her husband, her son and her husbands family 14 miles away from the rest of her family.

On Friday 22nd June my sister had rung my mum asking her to collect her and bring her home as she was leaving her husband, it turns out she had over heard a conversation she shouldnt have of her husband talking to his father on the phone saying that he was going to leave her ect.

Ofcourse she was massively upset and as she had already tried to speak to him about how unhappy they were with each other 3 days prior to this and he wasnt interested in talking.

By the time me and my mum had turned up there to help her carry her stuff to the van, my sisters husband had already left with their son and refused to return to the home until his own mother way there. Things had got a little heated between my mum, sister and his sisters who were home. After an hour or so things had calmed down and we were invited in to talk, the sister said that my sister was welcome to come back after the weekend and have her son but they had not seen him for a couple days. My sister agreed at the time thinking that it seemed fair and took their word for it.

Problem now is that my sister had not seen her son for 4 days and the last text she got from her husband said she wasnt going to see her son because she wont give him back. Which at this point is exactly what they are doing.

Also we know that their family has been through this before and gone to court to have full custody of the husbands sisters child. Since she left on friday we have had all kinds of texts from their family trying to make up lies about my sister all aimed at trying to declare her an unfit mother. We know they are going to try to get custody and already starting to fight dirty with made up accusations.

All my sister wants is to see her son and eventually have him live with her full time but she is not against her husband seeing him but as it stands he is just hiding her son away from her.


We know the police cant do anything so what options does my sister have in the time being?