Worried mum tells of abduction fear for son

A MOTHER-OF-TWO today spoke of her fear that a woman who tried to entice her eight-year-old son into a car at a Lothian shopping park was trying to abduct the youngster.

The suspect was a passenger in a yellow car which drove up alongside the child as he waited outside the Homebase store at Straiton Retail Park.

The car slowed down and the woman continually whispered to the boy, "come here, come over here", while gesturing to him.

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The vehicle drove off when the boy's ten-year-old sister approached them. The incident took place at around 3:50pm on Wednesday. It is not known whether the driver of the car was male or female.

The boy's 39-year-old mother, who asked not to be named, said she had been left "really frightened" and warned other parents to be on their guard.

She said: "I was at the check-out with my children and was just paying at the till. My husband phoned and my daughter took the phone to answer it. She said she couldn't hear so she went outside the front door.

"My son asked if he could go too and I said yes because I was only going to be another minute.

"He went outside and was playing next to the trolleys when this car came up beside him. He said the woman passenger kept saying to him, "come here, come over here" again and again. I think she was whispering so my daughter, who was nearby, couldn't hear.

"Thankfully he didn't listen to her and when my daughter came over, the car drove away.

"My son was upset afterwards because I don't think he realised what was happening at the time."

She added: "When I spoke to the police, they told me there was no CCTV covering the car park. Had my son been taken, the only description of the car and the woman would have come from my daughter. It left me really quite frightened."

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A police spokeswoman said inquiries were at an early stage, and appealed for anyone who was in the area at the time and who may have seen a woman acting suspiciously in the car park to come forward.

The suspect is aged mid-20s-30s, with short hair which was blonde on top and darker underneath. She wore jeans, a white top and a yellow cardigan.

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