Attempted abduction of child from park (From Daily Echo)

The social club has cameras on their car park. Maybe worth having a look.

some sick head that needs to be taken off the streets i do hope the police pull there finger out on this one !!

It says in the story that the man picked the little girl up, but it doesn't say he attempted to walk off with her. There could be several explanations of what happened, but to assume the worst from what has actually been reported suggests we are far to ready to assume every case of a man looking at a child , or taking a picture of a child or even cuddling a child is the work of a predatory kidnapping paedophile. In latin countries all these interactions are seen as normal because the overwhelming truth there as here is that almost all people love small children for the best of reasons. This many may indeed have been a paedophile, but it is far far more likely that he was drunk, lonely or just being plain old friendly. We are too ready to jump at our own shadows in this country.

It's a little bit odd a random man just walking over to a little girl who was near her mother and just picking her up. So many people just let there kids walk miles behind them I hope this wasn't the case. Still worrying all the same.

Let us hope this was an innocent act. The last thing we need is a weirdo on the loose in Southampton preying on young children.

Andy Locks Heath wrote:
It says in the story that the man picked the little girl up, but it doesn't say he attempted to walk off with her. There could be several explanations of what happened, but to assume the worst from what has actually been reported suggests we are far to ready to assume every case of a man looking at a child , or taking a picture of a child or even cuddling a child is the work of a predatory kidnapping paedophile. In latin countries all these interactions are seen as normal because the overwhelming truth there as here is that almost all people love small children for the best of reasons. This many may indeed have been a paedophile, but it is far far more likely that he was drunk, lonely or just being plain old friendly. We are too ready to jump at our own shadows in this country.

You make some very fair points, Andy, but there are other considerations.

Since the Moors Murders back in the 1960's, a great deal of news coverage has been given to all child abductions as the vast majority are not returned alive. Hindley's and Brady's faces appear quite regularly to remind parents and children of "stranger danger". This very day Brady is in the news as he may have finally revealed the burial location of Keith Bennett, the child he murdered over 40 years ago. We are all familiar with the names and faces : Madeleine McCann (still missing), Holly Chapman and Jessica Wells, Sarah Payne, James Bulger.......

Constantly we are warned by the police and child care agencies not to leave anything to chance as far as children are concerned. Schools and other appropriate organisations run enhanced CRB checks on all potential employees before interviewing. Teachers, assistants, and anyone working with children are advised to avoid physical contact, in case it is wrongly interpreted. Children are warned to be careful by teachers in assemblies and PSE lessons. And, of course, most children under 11 are escorted to and from school by parents.

Pedophile mania will stay with us as long as there are pedophiles at large. Nearly every week some person is in court having been found with inappropriate images of children on their computer. Children are constantly at risk from online predators.

Despite all our best efforts to protect the young, according to the current NSPCC statistics, one child a week is killed at the hands of another person. Two thirds of those children are under 5.

So no, Andy, no modern parent is going to stand for a stranger picking up their child without their permission, ESPECIALLY if he or she might be drunk, or mentally challenged.

I say jump at ALL shadows rather than leave one single child's life at risk.

hope some more details are released, sounds dodgy, but in other countries and cultures this is not an uncommon thing (picking a child up, spinning it around, showing some affection ect ect)

Time to open up my pitchfork shop, it seems.

Georgem wrote:
Time to open up my pitchfork shop, it seems.

Strange comment. Mind you don't p.rick yourself.

well at the end of the day its common assult and it should never happen as he has no right what must of been going though that childs mum head when that hapened

bigal007 wrote:
well at the end of the day its common assult and it should never happen as he has no right what must of been going though that childs mum head when that hapened

Whilst I'm sure there would be an arrest, from the information in the report it doesn't sound to me there would be an actual conviction under common law.

The majority of risk to kids is unfortunately from people known to them (especially family). Random stranger danger is a tiny risk in comparison and we need to keep it in perspective.

Btw is it autumn in Riverside Park already, like the pictures show ?

I can just imagine the comments if the suspect was described as asian. I doubt there would be people posting stupid comments like 'he only picked her up whats the harm'. Where's Hythe Knight or will he only comment to condem a crime when the suspect is black or asian.

Andy Locks Heath wrote:
It says in the story that the man picked the little girl up, but it doesn't say he attempted to walk off with her. There could be several explanations of what happened, but to assume the worst from what has actually been reported suggests we are far to ready to assume every case of a man looking at a child , or taking a picture of a child or even cuddling a child is the work of a predatory kidnapping paedophile. In latin countries all these interactions are seen as normal because the overwhelming truth there as here is that almost all people love small children for the best of reasons. This many may indeed have been a paedophile, but it is far far more likely that he was drunk, lonely or just being plain old friendly. We are too ready to jump at our own shadows in this country.

Lets be honest Andy... its a **** fair assumption that this incident was not one that was honest or innocent. If a man grabbed your 3 year old daughter or relative - I think like any other normal human behavhior you'd assume the worst and deal with it. The fact this person walked off with no excuse as to what he had done - kind of says it was wrong! Lonely and wanted a friend or just being plain old friendly... what codswallop! I would imagine this would have scared the living day lights out of the three year old - hardly friendly is it! I have grandchildren that age and I know what Id do if this happened to them! Protect our own and look after our kingdoms.....on British land this goes back hundreds of years, and it should continue!

10 Minute Man wrote:

bigal007 wrote:
well at the end of the day its common assult and it should never happen as he has no right what must of been going though that childs mum head when that hapened

Whilst I'm sure there would be an arrest, from the information in the report it doesn't sound to me there would be an actual conviction under common law.

The majority of risk to kids is unfortunately from people known to them (especially family). Random stranger danger is a tiny risk in comparison and we need to keep it in perspective.

Btw is it autumn in Riverside Park already, like the pictures show ?

under what has happened there would be a conviction under common law he has not right to pick that child up or anyone fact and why would he pick a child up

Non story. Weirdos are everywhere. I doubt there are many useful lines of enquiry to follow so the person won't be identified. Even if he were, nothing would happen that would satisfy the baying mobs that frequent these sorts of message boards.
He picked a child up - it would be impossible to prove motive, intent or anything that would result in a conviction of any kind what do ever.

gazdance wrote:
Non story. Weirdos are everywhere. I doubt there are many useful lines of enquiry to follow so the person won't be identified. Even if he were, nothing would happen that would satisfy the baying mobs that frequent these sorts of message boards.
He picked a child up - it would be impossible to prove motive, intent or anything that would result in a conviction of any kind what do ever.

I certainly do not consider this to be a non story. Why would any stranger pick up a child for no reason? Also there has been a child abduction in Thornhill either yesterday or today according to the police facebook page so it appears there is someone at large in Southampton who is a risk to children at the moment. As parents it is our responsibility to ensure our children are stranger danger aware, but it is also good to know when there is a current risk. If a child was taken and harmed and this had not been in the news, everyone would be very quick to criticise.

ye its today a 4 year old in thornill lots of police are in the woods up by the tower blocks

Catlyn9999 wrote:

Andy Locks Heath wrote:
It says in the story that the man picked the little girl up, but it doesn't say he attempted to walk off with her. There could be several explanations of what happened, but to assume the worst from what has actually been reported suggests we are far to ready to assume every case of a man looking at a child , or taking a picture of a child or even cuddling a child is the work of a predatory kidnapping paedophile. In latin countries all these interactions are seen as normal because the overwhelming truth there as here is that almost all people love small children for the best of reasons. This many may indeed have been a paedophile, but it is far far more likely that he was drunk, lonely or just being plain old friendly. We are too ready to jump at our own shadows in this country.

Lets be honest Andy... its a **** fair assumption that this incident was not one that was honest or innocent. If a man grabbed your 3 year old daughter or relative - I think like any other normal human behavhior you'd assume the worst and deal with it. The fact this person walked off with no excuse as to what he had done - kind of says it was wrong! Lonely and wanted a friend or just being plain old friendly... what codswallop! I would imagine this would have scared the living day lights out of the three year old - hardly friendly is it! I have grandchildren that age and I know what Id do if this happened to them! Protect our own and look after our kingdoms.....on British land this goes back hundreds of years, and it should continue!

The fact that the average person believes "it's a fair assumption that this was not an innocent act" is terrifying. Do you really see paedophiles on every corner?

Andy Locks Heath wrote:
It says in the story that the man picked the little girl up, but it doesn't say he attempted to walk off with her. There could be several explanations of what happened, but to assume the worst from what has actually been reported suggests we are far to ready to assume every case of a man looking at a child , or taking a picture of a child or even cuddling a child is the work of a predatory kidnapping paedophile. In latin countries all these interactions are seen as normal because the overwhelming truth there as here is that almost all people love small children for the best of reasons. This many may indeed have been a paedophile, but it is far far more likely that he was drunk, lonely or just being plain old friendly. We are too ready to jump at our own shadows in this country.

A great point. We've not been given enough information to make any accurate assumptions. When we took our little one to Spain, people were very affectionate towards him in an appropriate way and neither of us thought anything of it.

You know what certain types of people can be like.

Well according to the police page, the man had a 'local accent' so there must have been some kind of dialogue between the mother and stranger. Maybe it's innocent, maybe it's not but whenever there is a story like this it just mothballs into mass hysteria! I spent a good half hour yesterday reading the Police FB page- it was full of people spreading rumours about several other attempted abductions- all of which the police said were false. I think I'll just hang on and wait for more details from the official sources before I make any kind of judgement on this one. I hope it was somehow innocent and that we do not have a strange bloke going around trying to take a little kid.

BillyTheKid wrote:

Andy Locks Heath wrote:
It says in the story that the man picked the little girl up, but it doesn't say he attempted to walk off with her. There could be several explanations of what happened, but to assume the worst from what has actually been reported suggests we are far to ready to assume every case of a man looking at a child , or taking a picture of a child or even cuddling a child is the work of a predatory kidnapping paedophile. In latin countries all these interactions are seen as normal because the overwhelming truth there as here is that almost all people love small children for the best of reasons. This many may indeed have been a paedophile, but it is far far more likely that he was drunk, lonely or just being plain old friendly. We are too ready to jump at our own shadows in this country.

You make some very fair points, Andy, but there are other considerations.

Since the Moors Murders back in the 1960's, a great deal of news coverage has been given to all child abductions as the vast majority are not returned alive. Hindley's and Brady's faces appear quite regularly to remind parents and children of "stranger danger". This very day Brady is in the news as he may have finally revealed the burial location of Keith Bennett, the child he murdered over 40 years ago. We are all familiar with the names and faces : Madeleine McCann (still missing), Holly Chapman and Jessica Wells, Sarah Payne, James Bulger.......

Constantly we are warned by the police and child care agencies not to leave anything to chance as far as children are concerned. Schools and other appropriate organisations run enhanced CRB checks on all potential employees before interviewing. Teachers, assistants, and anyone working with children are advised to avoid physical contact, in case it is wrongly interpreted. Children are warned to be careful by teachers in assemblies and PSE lessons. And, of course, most children under 11 are escorted to and from school by parents.

Pedophile mania will stay with us as long as there are pedophiles at large. Nearly every week some person is in court having been found with inappropriate images of children on their computer. Children are constantly at risk from online predators.

Despite all our best efforts to protect the young, according to the current NSPCC statistics, one child a week is killed at the hands of another person. Two thirds of those children are under 5.

So no, Andy, no modern parent is going to stand for a stranger picking up their child without their permission, ESPECIALLY if he or she might be drunk, or mentally challenged.

I say jump at ALL shadows rather than leave one single child's life at risk.

Billy the Kid, you are right to quote the NSPCC statistics that more than one child a week is murdered in the UK - what you fail to mention is that the majority of these (approx 75%) are killed by people they know and 65% are killed by their own parents. This needs to be said to put the statistics into perspective. There is stranger danger - but our perception is far worse than the reality.

dontheman wrote:

BillyTheKid wrote:

Andy Locks Heath wrote:
It says in the story that the man picked the little girl up, but it doesn't say he attempted to walk off with her. There could be several explanations of what happened, but to assume the worst from what has actually been reported suggests we are far to ready to assume every case of a man looking at a child , or taking a picture of a child or even cuddling a child is the work of a predatory kidnapping paedophile. In latin countries all these interactions are seen as normal because the overwhelming truth there as here is that almost all people love small children for the best of reasons. This many may indeed have been a paedophile, but it is far far more likely that he was drunk, lonely or just being plain old friendly. We are too ready to jump at our own shadows in this country.

You make some very fair points, Andy, but there are other considerations.


Since the Moors Murders back in the 1960's, a great deal of news coverage has been given to all child abductions as the vast majority are not returned alive. Hindley's and Brady's faces appear quite regularly to remind parents and children of "stranger danger". This very day Brady is in the news as he may have finally revealed the burial location of Keith Bennett, the child he murdered over 40 years ago. We are all familiar with the names and faces : Madeleine McCann (still missing), Holly Chapman and Jessica Wells, Sarah Payne, James Bulger.......

Constantly we are warned by the police and child care agencies not to leave anything to chance as far as children are concerned. Schools and other appropriate organisations run enhanced CRB checks on all potential employees before interviewing. Teachers, assistants, and anyone working with children are advised to avoid physical contact, in case it is wrongly interpreted. Children are warned to be careful by teachers in assemblies and PSE lessons. And, of course, most children under 11 are escorted to and from school by parents.

Pedophile mania will stay with us as long as there are pedophiles at large. Nearly every week some person is in court having been found with inappropriate images of children on their computer. Children are constantly at risk from online predators.

Despite all our best efforts to protect the young, according to the current NSPCC statistics, one child a week is killed at the hands of another person. Two thirds of those children are under 5.

So no, Andy, no modern parent is going to stand for a stranger picking up their child without their permission, ESPECIALLY if he or she might be drunk, or mentally challenged.

I say jump at ALL shadows rather than leave one single child's life at risk.

Billy the Kid, you are right to quote the NSPCC statistics that more than one child a week is murdered in the UK - what you fail to mention is that the majority of these (approx 75%) are killed by people they know and 65% are killed by their own parents. This needs to be said to put the statistics into perspective. There is stranger danger - but our perception is far worse than the reality.

You see, our perception is not far worse than the reality. All teachers were made aware of the statistics years ago when the CRB checks were first introduced. We were shocked.

Some years ago, Scotland Yard produced some statistics extrapolated from their experience. It was felt that there are likely to be a minimum of 250,000 paedophiles in England and Wales. The population of England and Wales is about 50 million, of which the male/female ratio is approximately half and half. As the vast majority of paedophiles are male, it means that 250,000 are spread among the 25,000,000 males. Which translates to 1 in 100. As there are about 230,000 people living in Hampshire, that means about 115,000 are male. Which means we could have over 1000 paedophiles living in this county.

Last year, according to Scotland Yard, 1148 sex offences against children were investigated by the police in Hampshire. And in the whole of England and Wales, over 23,000 sex offences against children were investigated.

Now tell me our perception is worse than the reality !

These are fair comments but as it's my family member that this is about o just thought I would add that my family are still suffering from this incident and find it hard to go out this is not an innocent man this is a man that tried to take a child that the mother did not know and if you have a look at the e fit you will see that the police are now trying to find this man and if there is anyone out there tha has any information or saw what happened can you please contact the police on 101 or 08457 0454545 thanks you help will be much appreciated

Colette21 wrote:
These are fair comments but as it's my family member that this is about o just thought I would add that my family are still suffering from this incident and find it hard to go out this is not an innocent man this is a man that tried to take a child that the mother did not know and if you have a look at the e fit you will see that the police are now trying to find this man and if there is anyone out there tha has any information or saw what happened can you please contact the police on 101 or 08457 0454545 thanks you help will be much appreciated

Colette, I hope that nothing I have had said has caused you any extra distress, although I'd be surprised if it hadn't.

I'm very concerned that certain people who have posted here seem to want to play down the seriousness of the matter. All that rubbish about it being normal behaviour in other countries ! Whatever the case, it isn't normal here in Britain, as most sensible people realise.

I hope they find this man quickly, and that your family can soon get over it. I'm not sure whether you are the child's mother or that you are speaking on her behalf, but I want to say what a fantastic Mum she is to have been so quick on the uptake and saved her child. I'm sure the whole family is really proud of her.

This doesn't sound like an innocent encounter; parents need to be alert but we DO need to allow our children space and freedom to play. This may well be why the Lost Kidz App is sweeping across the country: it's like having a personal amber alert - it only takes seconds for your child to be taken, wander off into traffic or into open water - but with the App, you can enlist the help of App holders nearby to help. If you would be happy for the police to send an alert through media, the App alert is no different -just quicker. and every second counts as this story illustrates.