Concerns as child is followed by stranger

She claims her child was walking along a path at Meadowbrook to find a man standing behind a fence.

The shocked mum claims the child passed the man, who followed the child, but after a short period the boy realised he was being followed and crossed to the other side of the road.

The youngster ran up Gilpin’s Mews and rang a door bell but, at this stage, the strange man appeared at the entrance of Gilpin’s Court.

The child knew no one was home at the house he was at and the strange man was crossing over towards him.

Quickly the boy went to the neighbour’s house as there was a car in the driveway and the neighbour came out.

At this stage the strange man took off.

The boy’s mum said the strange man was wearing dark coloured jeans, bottle green puffy jacket, was about 5’10 with a beard and black cap and had a cigarette in his ear.

Local SDLP representative Thomas Larkham described it as a ‘very worrying turn of events’.

“I would urge all parents to have a serious talk to their children about this.

“Thankfully this young lad knew what was happening and was able to get to safety. I send him and his family my best wishes and I hope he is okay following this traumatic experience.

“I will be following up with PSNI on this.”

A PSNI spokesperson said: “Police in Lurgan received a report of a suspicious approach to a child in the Meadowbrook area of Craigavon at 4pm on Wednesday, 7th January.

“Enquiries are continuing into this and police are appealing for anyone who has any information to contact officers in Lurgan on 101, quoting reference number 415 of 07/02/18