Child snatch alert
PARENTS WARNED AFTER WOMAN APPARENTLY TRIES TO GRAB CHILD OFF A TYNESIDE STREET
MUMS and dads have been warned not to let their children walk home from school alone after a woman tried to snatch a child off the street.
Police are investigating the incident, which happened in Gateshead on Wednesday afternoon.
Officers said they received a report a car had stopped next to a schoolboy as he walked home on Eastbourne Avenue and a woman got out and shouted at him, before making a grab at him.
Teachers at Caedmon Primary School, on the town’s Whitehall Road, are understood to have sent a text message to families following the scare.
And the head teacher at nearby White Mere Primary School, in Wardley, has posted a warning online.
On the school’s Facebook page and website, Chris Boddy urged parents to remain vigilant following the apparent abduction attempt.
He wrote: “Following an incident, Caedmon Primary are advising that pupils don’t walk alone to/from school.
“As a result, we would also advise parents to be vigilant. “More information will follow.” Police said the boy was not injured in the incident, and they said that there is no suggestion at this stage that the woman tried to get him in the car.
A police spokesman said: “At around 4.50pm on Wednesday afternoon police received a report of a suspicious vehicle on Eastbourne Avenue in Gateshead.
“The vehicle – described as being similar to a burnt orange Nissan Qashqai with red and black wheels has stopped next to a schoolboy at around 3.20pm as he walked home from school.
“A woman has got out of the vehicle and shouted at him.
“She has grabbed the boy during the altercation at which point he has left the area and his parents have later notified police.
“The child wasn’t injured and there is no indication the woman was trying to get the boy into the vehicle but enquiries to trace the car is still ongoing.
“Officers have spoken to schools in the area but there is nothing to suggest that this vehicle is targeting children in the area.”
But one mum, who has two children at White Mere Primary, said the warning had caused panic among parents who were very concerned by the events.
She said: “We haven’t heard much. I woke up this morning to a WhatsApp message asking if anyone knew anything about it and I obviously started worrying.
“People are saying a woman tried to get a kid in a car, and the car was being driven by a man. It has caused a lot of worry.
“My children are too young to walk to school alone, but I know lots of children do, and you see mums and dads dropping them off outside school on their way to work.
“I don’t think we have been given enough information, this message has just caused worry and panic.”
Anyone who thinks they know the identity of those in the vehicle should call Northumbria Police on 101 quoting log 767 13/09/17.