Man jailed for eight months after mother saw him carry off autistic son, 10, at station

A MAN who snatched an autistic child in a railway station has been jailed for eight months.

The 10-year-old boy’s mother had momentarily taken her eyes off him to flick through a magazine and then saw him being carried off by a stranger.

Sheriff Gary Aitken described it as “sinister” incident after hearing 31-year-old Dawid Grzybek had a similar previous conviction involving a girl, 15.

The incident occurred in Inverness Railway Station on February 18 and Grzybek was quickly traced by police. He appeared from custody in Inverness Sheriff Court the following day.

He gave officers various different reasons for taking the child, who was quickly re-united with his mother. Grzybek said the boy was in his way but then insisted the child was his own. The court also heard Grzybek claimed he was punishing the mother for not taking care of her child.

Sentence was deferred for reports and he was imprisoned by Sheriff Aitken’s sister Sheriff Eilidh Macdonald.

She told him: “This is an extremely serious charge and only a custodial one is appropriate given your previous conviction.”

Grzybek of Quayside Court, Inverness had admitted behaving in a disorderly manner by picking up the boy and walking off with him, placing his mother and the boy in a state of fear and alarm.

Defence solicitor Neil Wilson told the court: “He does not appreciate the seriousness of what he has done.

“I have made him aware custody was likely.”