Man's chilling words as locals foil alleged child abduction in Dublin city centre

Exclusive - A group of local residents who heard the mother’s screams quickly confronted the alleged abductor and managed to get him to the ground while waiting on gardai to arrive.

By: irishmirror.ie

May 02 2024
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Man's chilling words as locals

A young woman has told how a man who allegedly tried to snatch a young child from its pram in a front garden in inner city Dublin said: “You will understand why I wanted to take the child.”

The terrifying incident is alleged to have unfolded at around 12 noon on Thursday, May 2 outside a house in the Sheriff Street area of Dublin 1.

A male is alleged to have tried to take the baby from its pram in a front garden after the mother briefly went back into the house for a shopping bag.

A group of local residents who heard the mother’s screams quickly confronted the alleged abductor and managed to get him to the ground while waiting on gardai to arrive.

Gardai arrived a short time later and subsequently arrested the male for an alleged offence under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. Tonight he is being detained at a garda station in the Dublin region under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

Now, a neighbour and witness to the alleged abduction has spoken out of the terrifying ordeal that has left children in the area afraid to play outside.

Speaking to this paper just hours after the alleged abduction, the woman, who does not want to be identified, told us: “The atmosphere in the area changed so much after this.”

She said she heard her neighbour - the mother of the young child - screaming for help and banging on windows.

“I went outside and asked what’s wrong and she told me a man tried to take her child, tried to snatch the baby out of the pram and tried to wheel the pram out of the garden,” the shocked woman said.

“Several other neighbours came out of their homes and we all saw the man walking slowly away. He then walked back towards us and was smiling. It was so disturbing.

“The child’s mother grabbed a sweeping brush and started to bang it off cars to get him away.

“He then said to us ‘You will understand why I wanted to take the child,” she said.

“I thought the child’s mother was going to collapse. She was that upset over what happened.

“Teachers from the nearby creche came outside too with all the commotion going on.”

The eye-witness said several local people managed to get the man to the ground and hold him while gardai were on their way.

“The whole street was then surrounded by gardai and squad cars,” the eye-witness told us.

“The gardai picked him up and took him away.”

She said: “Within a split second the atmosphere changed in the area. Kids were earlier playing outside and then this happened in broad daylight. It’s just so frightening.

“It has shocked the whole of Sheriff Street,” she said, adding that “the children are too afraid to go outside and play now because of this.”

“The child’s poor mother is traumatised and really shaken up. Everyone is frightened. I am even too scared to walk to work anymore,” she said.

Local Dublin City Councillor Nial Ring said: “It was horrific. Only with the vigilance of a couple of local people you never know what could have happened.”

In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, An Garda Siochana said: “Gardai from Store Street responded to an incident in the Sheriff Street area of Dublin 1 shortly after 12 noon on Thursday, May 2.

“A man, aged in his late 20s, was arrested at the scene for an alleged offence under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997, and is currently detained at a Garda Station in the Dublin Region under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.

“An Garda Síochána is currently investigating and verifying the details of this incident. Enquiries are ongoing.”

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