Did mum on run with sons hoodwink the authorities?
Court says she’s a risk to her boys... but friends praise kindness
A MOTHER wanted for abducting her sons may have hoodwinked the authorities by orchestrating their disappearance before a court hearing where she lost custody of them.
This emerged last night as police searched for Samantha Baldwin, who is said by the authorities to pose a risk to her sons Louis and Dylan Madge, aged nine and six.
The boys were made wards of court by a judge last Monday. It is understood that Miss Baldwin, 40, who previously had custody of them, attended the Family Court hearing without them. Police are said to be examining whether she arranged with another adult for the children to be moved from her terraced home in Newark, Nottinghamshire, in anticipation of the court’s decision.
A brief statement by Nottingham Family Court said ‘it is assumed’ Miss Baldwin, an office worker, had abducted Louis and Dylan and that she ‘is considered to pose a risk of harm to the children’.
The police team working on the case has grown to 100 and a crossEuropean alert has been issued covering airports, ports and railway stations.
Detectives have appealed to Miss Baldwin to ‘phone and let us know you’re safe’.
The revelations came as worried relatives of the boys’ father David Madge, 43, demanded to know how their mother was allowed to spirit them away, apparently from under the noses of the authorities charged with caring for them. A source close to the investigation said: ‘It looks like somebody somewhere made a mistake. The court hearing made a decision to remove the boys from her care.
‘Yet by lunchtime she and they had vanished. It’s a worry because of her possible state of mind.
‘Relatives are concerned about the boys and they want to know how this was allowed to happen.’
Miss Baldwin was last seen at midday in Nottingham last Monday after the court hearing, and CCTV images have been released of her and the children days before they disappeared. Police launched a missing persons appeal the next day, saying they were ‘seriously concerned’ for the three. But 24 hours later, detectives announced the case was being treated as a suspected abduction. Miss Baldwin’s Facebook account hints at grievances with the family courts. A post quotes US founding father Benjamin Franklin, saying: ‘Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.’ Friends have launched a fundraising page online to help her legal fight to regain custody of her children. So far it has raised £2,590. New images were released of the family at the weekend. One showed a smiling Dylan in a red school uniform. Two others, from CCTV cameras, showed the trio walking into a building days before the disappearance. tendent NottinghamshireRich FretwellPolice Superin-said: ‘There’s always the possibility that Samantha could be being harboured by someone. We would urge that person to come forward and let us know where the boys are.’ Two women aged 62 and 36 – believed to be Miss Baldwin’s mother Dianne and sister Leonie – were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender but later released on bail. Last night Rebecca Anlauf, 41, a former school friend of Miss Baldwin who set up the fundraising website, said: ‘I believe she is acting in what she thinks is the best interests of the children. ‘I can’t say very much because of the court case but this has been building for some years.’ On the JustGiving website, Miss Anlauf wrote: ‘ Those of us who know Samantha know that she is a kind and caring person.’ Mr Madge, of Rochdale, was last night unavailable for comment. Neighbours say they have not seen him since last week.
‘It looks like somebody made a mistake’