To Be Horrified By This Story? (Well, no...)

[DontCallMePeanut]

A woman snatched a 3 year old girl from a shopping mall, and claims she did so to help her get a council house That poor child :(

I wonder if the "council house" reason is a convenient cover for something much more sinister. This is really shocking. Just awful for the poor little girl and her family.

BelleDame, I did wonder the same. Those poor parents. The fact she was taken in a busy shopping centre sent a chill down my spine... reminded me of a certain famous case. :( Just glad the little girl is safe.

That is horrifying :(

The woman who snatched her has been detained under the Mental Health Act and has had previous MH problems, this happened in October last year. She is detained in a MH facility and not in 'criminal custody'. I hope that she stays in the care of MH and is not just sent to prison were she could be released without proper treatment and assessment.

Birdsgottaffy - I did see that but I wondered if that would make her more easily influenced to perhaps help someone else in an abduction. I'm probably reading too much into it but the targeting of the little girl gives it a calculated feel.

Peanut - me too.

I read about this at the time and apparently the woman had been watching a programme about young mums getting council houses and this became a fixation, her and her partner were living in a private rent flat. Her partner had expressed concern to their GP about her but it didn't seem to warrant intervention. He was arrested and released without any suspicion.

How horrible, and frightening for the parents!
Thank goodness they found her again very quickly, poor little thing.

I wonder if you are correct, Belle, especially as it appears she stalked the family for some time before grabbing the little girl.

I think that the lack of reporting at the time was so a panic wasn't created. There wasn't any suspicion that it was anything sinister. I don't think that eight months later it sould be suggested that there was, when we don't have all the facts to hand.

Taking someone child is sinister.

Awful. Hope they throw away the key to wherever it is that the predator is being held.

This thread should be in In The News.

HalfTermHero -she is someone with serious mental health problems. She needs treatment.

Treat her but no release as far as I am concerned. I don't want someone who prays on children wandering the streets.

She is mentally ill. Hopefully with proper treatment she will no longer be a threat.

She is mentally ill. Hopefully with proper treatment she will no longer be a threat.

'This thread should be in In The News.'

You went to all the effort of posting allhailtheaubergine, why?

The poor parents of the 3 YO, there's no way they could have predicted that.

I don't even like to think about what they were going to do with the girl, and who were the two blokes who were with the abductor?

If this was a man who had tried to take this child would anyone be posting oh he's mentally I'll and needs help, I think not.

Don't judge people by your own shitty standards, Chum

If the man had mental health problems I would say he'd need help chummy - because he would.

I hardly think the people assessing whether the abductor was fit to be prosecuted would make allowances for her just because she's a woman.

Or are you suggesting that because the majority of posters on MN are women, we would feel more compassion for her?

If anything, it may be the opposite, because we'd be more likely to put ourselves in the shoes of how the mum of the little girl would be feeling and therefore feel hostility towards the abductor.