If he divorced her, "3 talaqs" is just an error and they divorced only once. Decision of families and decision of court is not needed for husband to divorce his wife islamically, as far as i know, so probably that was not islamic court. (The families decided to divorce and decision of court is not known for us).
After so long time, waiting period has completed. So, they are divorced now. As divorce is completed, he cannot just "take her back".
They can marry again, if they both agree.
I am sorry I am lazy to search for proofs for now. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divorce_in_Islam and https://www.google.com/search?q=talaq for now.
i am going to write more detailed answer about triple divorce in Just reciting "Talak" thrice commits divorce? .