The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Boy taken in carjacking
A SCOTS mum has told how she feared the worst after her car was stolen with her eight-year-old son asleep in the back.
Mum-of-four Kathleen McKechnie Skifjell, 53, told how a thief struck after she had stopped at a petrol station to buy a bottle of water, leaving heavy sleeper son Scott snoozing inside.
The incident happened near Kathleen’s home in Revertal, Norway, earlier this month.
Kathleen, who is originally from Stirling, failed to notice the man loitering around the petrol station waiting for his chance. But when she got out of the car without locking it, he jumped in and sped off.
Kathleen said the next hour was the longest of her life before she received a call to say Scott had been found safe and sound.
She later learned the thief had woken up Scott before dropping him off at a remote house and telling him that his mum was waiting there for him.
But when groggy Scott knocked on the door, he discovered it was the home of a family who had no idea who he was.
The couple quickly called police.
Kathleen said: “We’re just lucky this thief had a conscience and a heart. He was obviously an opportunist who just wanted my car and must’ve got the shock of his life when he found Scott sleeping in the back.
“He must’ve been a decent person who happened to be desperate and that’s why he stole the car. He was taking a chance dropping off Scott outside a house because by that time there was a big hunt under way.
“The police quickly put everything on Twitter about Scott’s abduction. I had given a description of my car and its registration number and there were a lot of people out searching for Scott.
“Scott doesn’t remember much as he was sound asleep until he was woken by the man after he pulled up outside the house.
“It was about 8 o’clock at night and it was getting dark. Scott was still half asleep when he rang the doorbell and told the couple who answered that a man had taken his mum’s car and had told him to knock on their door.”
Police later found the car abandoned and undamaged. Kathleen’s purse had been emptied and her mobile phone sim card had been taken. Police said they had now arrested a man over the incident.