The four sisters caught in the middle of a battle between their parents that spanned two continents have told their side of the story. More than three years ago Claire, Emily, Christine and Lily Vincenti were taken from their Italian home by their mother, which sparked an ugly dispute that included claims of kidnapping. Their mother, Laura Garrett, had Australian passports made for the girls and fled to Australia. She claimed she had to escape her abusive partner, Tomasso Vincenti. SCROLL DOWN FOR VIDEO . Flashback to 2012: These were the heartbreaking scenes of a family being torn apart when four young sisters were dragged kicking and screaming from their mother's Sunshine Coast home in the middle of the night and forced onto a plan back to their father in Italy . The sisters were returned to Italy in 2012, after Ms Garrett's story fell apart. The two eldest children, Claire and Emily, told 60 Minutes' Tara Brown they had moved on from the ordeal. 'I think they were thinking more about themselves than us, you know, because we were put at the centre of this whole situation, and I don't know, they were a little bit selfish,' Claire Vincenti said. 'Because you know, we went through all of this — I mean, they did as well, but it was most hard for us than them, because they're the adults.' 'If I think about it now, maybe I've said stuff that I exaggerated a little bit, and that was just because I was liking my life in Australia and that was just because I didn't want to leave.' The four Vincenti sisters, including the two older girls Emil and Claire, had a 'monster' of a father who abused them and their mother,or so the story went after the girls were removed from their home in dramatic circumstances and return to Italy . Despite being embroiled in the very public and traumatic feud where the Vinceni girls were dragged kicking and screaming from their mother's home in the middle of the night to go back to live with their father in 2012, the girls have established healthy and happy lives in Italy and speak to their mum every night. 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown interviewed the two eldest girls, Emily and Claire, who she described as elegant, gracious, reserved and studious, at their home near Florence and they expressed their regret for the way they handled the dramatic exit. 'They are really well, really centred and settled,' she said. What had led up to the removal of the four sisters in Australia and their return to Italy was the fact that their mother had taken them from their home in Italy on a 'vacation' and never returned, claiming the girls' father Tomaso was an abuser . Laura Garrett (pictured) has consistently maintained that she was removing her daughters from Italy back to Australia for their own safety . The four Vinceni girls miss Australia and their mother, but they are happy and calm girls in contrast to the dramatic and hysterical scenes in which they were removed from Australia in late 2012 . 'They are really well, really centred and settled. 'They are elegant, gracious, reserved and studious,' 60 Minutes reporter Tara Brown told Daily Mail Australia. 'They are very calm.' Tara said the girls were somewhat aware of the hysteria the distressing scenes of their exit caused and 'have a bit of regret about how they handled it ... so public and being so vehement, but they were manipulated'. The girls are living positive and fruitful lives, attending school six days a week, talking about what they will study at university and going out with their Italian boyfriends in Florence. 'They speak with their mother every night and their father believes it is best for them to have both parents in their lives,' Brown said. Despite claims by the girls' mother that they were not happy in Italy, the sisters now seem settled and leading good lives with their father Tomaso. 'They are still children who have seen a very bitter custody fight and ultimately they would like to live with both of their parents.' This scene of one of the Tomaso girls in apparent distress outside her father's villa in Florence after the four sisters were taken back from Australia to Italy . Emily and Claire Vincenti (pictured) are now aged 16 and 17 and are living in Italy with their father . The story was that the girls had been taken from their abusive father back in Italy to hide out in Australia and now they were being sent back to the 'monster' against their will. The scenes of the girl's forced return caused widespread outcry, particularly as the girls' mother portrayed the cruelty of the Dad, and the girls -  then aged nine to 14 years old - frightened and distraught. That was in 2012 and it seemed unbelievable to many Australians who watched the scenes play out that the girls were legally being returned to their Italian father as approved under Italian law. What had been lost in the drama was the fact that the four sisters had earlier been taken by their mother from Italy without the knowledge or permission of that father, Tomaso Vincenti, and that the girls had been born in Italy and spent the greater part of their young lives there. Now 60 Minutes has returned to the village near Florence where the girls have been living with their Italian Dad and interview the two elder girls, Emily and Claire Vincenti and talked to them about their lives and the dramatic circumstances in which they were apparently wrenched from their mother, Laura Garrett. Emily and Claire talked about their parents and were filmed going out with their Italian boyfriends in Florence . The four Vinceni girls miss Australia and their mother, but appear happy and calm in contrast to the dramatic and hysterical scenes in which they were removed from Australian in late 2012 . The dramatic turn in the lives of the Vincenti girls began in 2010, when they left Italy ostensibly just for  month's holiday back in Australia, with their mother's family on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland. Laura Garrett and Tomaso Vincenti had met when she was a schoolgirl and had gone to Italy as an exchange student. Her host family was Tomaso's parents and Laura and Tomaso fell in love. Laura became pregnant and the pair married. Ms Garrett gave birth to four healthy girls, but in 2007 when the youngest was only around  four years old she split from Tomaso. Under Italian law, both parents were granted equal custody. In 2010, Laura told Tomaso she wanted to take the girls back to Australia for a vacation. Ms Garrett told the Australian embassy in Italian entirely different story, that she was fleeing an abusive husband and father and she needed their assistance. Despite claims by the girls' mother than they were not happy in Italy, the sisters now seem settled and leading good lives with father Tomaso . Once back in Australia, Ms Garrett and her daughters settled down to life in Queensland for two years, until the dramatic scenes which saw them returned to Italy. Now aged twelve to 17, the young women behave in complete contrast to the screaming, hysterical girls captured on camera in 2012. Just a day after being taken to their father's villa on the outskirts of Florence, the two older girls were filmed running to the front gates when they saw media camped outside and pleaded for reporters to help them return to Australia. The eldest girl was taken back inside by her father, while her sister clung to the gate as her grandmother urged her to return inside. She held onto the gate for an hour, during which local police and social workers arrived. The girls had not seen their mother since they left Australia, but after 60 Minutes went to Italy to film the story, Laura Garrett  has subsequently turned up for a three-day visit. Ms Garrett has previously said in the years since her daughter's return to Italy that the girls were unhappy. 'They don't seem to be settling,' she said in 2013. 'I keep getting constant requests from them to come home.' Tara Brown said the girls loved Australia and missed it, but they were calmly getting on with their lives and planning their immediate futures in Italy.
Four sisters were at the centre of an international custody dispute .
Vinceni girls were sent back to live with their father in Italy in 2012 .
They were dragged kicking and screaming from their Sunshine Coast home .
Distressing scenes were shown on TV causing great hysteria and concern .
60 Minutes exclusively interviewed the girls at their home near Florence .
The two eldest, Emily and Claire, speak of their regret of dramatic exit .
Their mother has not visited them in Italy but speaks to them everyday .
60 Minutes will screen nationally on Channel 9 at 8.30pm Sunday, April 12 .