PARENTS’ FEARS OVER WOMAN ‘CAUSING A NUISANCE WHILE ROAMING ROUND CITY’

CONCERNED parents are living in fear of a woman roaming Fenton, Longton and Hanley who they claim has repeatedly followed, touched and kissed children. Videos have emerged on social media of the ‘Eastern European’ woman and her associates who they believe are behind the worrying incidents. Some have threatened to carry out a citizen’s arrest after becoming frustrated at the apparent lack of police action.

But Staffordshire Police insist they are aware of the woman and ‘appropriate safeguarding measures are being taken’. Most reports centre on Fenton, but the woman, right – whose identity The Sentinel has obscured for legal reasons – has also been ‘causing a nuisance’ in Longton, the city centre and Stoke. Alleged incidents The Sentinel has been alerted to over the last few weeks include:

Attempts to snatch a child from a Fenton pub;

Schoolgirls being ‘touched and kissed in City Road, Fenton;

The woman wandering inside strangers’ homes in Fenton and Sandford Hill;

Touching a toddler in Foley Street and King Street, Fenton;

Approaching a child in Baker Street, Fenton;

Following children to St Peter’s Academy in Fenton;

Approaching shoppers and asking them to buy items such as trainers and clothes in Longton.

Some say the incidents are ‘grossly exaggerated’ or just ‘hearsay’, but others claim to have been victims. On some occasions she is on her own, on others she is with a man or a group.

One gran said: “She followed me and my granddaughter and kept touching her. I was actually quite worried by her and it takes a lot to get me scared.

“The police need to do something because there’s going to be vigilantes taking it into their own hands. In my opinion, she is mentally disturbed.” One mum claimed she tried to get to her one-year-old child after getting in her house on Sandford Hill. Another said she attempted to get to her granddaughter outside B&M in Longton.

Yet another account states: “She grabbed my friend’s daughter, assaulted her and tried to tell her she had got to go with her so she could get her to school. Luckily my friend’s daughter managed to get away from her. The police don’t give a damn about it.”

When The Sentinel spoke to families in Fenton, every one was aware of the woman – but none had been victims. One mum in Berdmore Street told said: “Is there any evidence that she has touched a child? Don’t get me wrong, we are scared – we are worried about it, but we’re only going off what social media says. “She’s looked at my son as we’ve walked past but she hasn’t made an attempt. And then obviously we hear about she’s supposed to have kissed a child.

“But if that’s the case, why didn’t the parents ring the police? We don’t know what’s going on but we need to know. I’ve got two children and they’re panicking now when they go outside.

“We don’t know what’s true. We don’t know if she’s just been targeted because she’s a foreign woman.” Another Berdmore Street neighbour said she thought one video was ‘physically staged’.

She added: “Until this woman comes up to approach my child – or anything like that – then it’s not true. It’s all social media scaremongering.”

Although Staffordshire Police has acknowledged the woman’s behaviour was ‘concerning’, it has moved to reassure families.

A spokesman said: “On Tuesday night, at 7.25pm, officers attended a report of a woman approaching a child in Baker Street, Fenton. Officers carried out enquiries.

“However, no one could provide an account of what had happened. We are also aware of posts on social media regarding similar incidents, but these have not been reported to police.

“The woman has been identified, and while we understand this behaviour is concerning, we wish to reassure the community that appropriate safeguarding measures are being taken.”