‘I was half awake and he was leaning over the bed touching my 6-year-old’ says mum after attempted abduction

A mum has spoken of her horror as she woke to find a strange man touching her child in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

The 32-year-old mum was sleeping at her Co Armagh home when she woke to see the stranger at the bottom of her bed.

She revealed that she had gone to bed with her two youngest children, two girls aged four and six years old.

“They woke up and wanted to stay in my bed as the light had gone out in their bedroom,” she said.

The gate which was damaged during the attempted abductionThe gate which was damaged during the attempted abduction
The gate which was damaged during the attempted abduction

“I think it was about 11pm when they came into my bed and my partner was downstairs on the couch in the living room. The six year old was laying at the bottom of our bed and the four year old beside me,” she said.

Both front and back doors of their Drumbeg home in Craigavon were locked but an upstairs window had been left open.

“I think he came in through that window but noone heard a thing.

“I woke up seeing a man at the bottom of the bed touching my child. I was half asleep and whatever way my head was tilted in the bed, all I could see was him wearing black socks and blue jeans. I know my partner doesn’t wear jeans and knew it to be a stranger and could see this stranger had taken the blanket off her.

Police are appealing for witnesses.Police are appealing for witnesses.
Police are appealing for witnesses.

“He was bent over the bottom of the bed, leaning over her,” she said, adding that she was groggy as she had just been woken.

“When I wakened up I was frozen myself for a minute. Then I asked: ‘Who are you?’ several times and he ran out and down the stairs. He jumped over the bannister and ran down the stairs. I squealed and shouted and ran but by the time I had got to the top of the stairs, he had pulled the front door snib open and broke the front gate to get away,” she said.

She added: ““It was petrifying.”

The 32-year-old said she has spoken to her daughter who said he had rubbed her head and arms and back in a circular motion as if to try to lift her.

Mum said: “My daughter told me he spoke to her while lifting her arms and he told her to ‘Come with me’.”

“I feel lucky that he didn’t take her and we have her today. It could have been so different and a lot worse,” she said, adding, her daughter has a bit of anxiety about it now.

“She keeps asking me to hold her,” she said.

She praised the local community in the Drumbeg area for rallying round to help and also the female PSNI officer who spoke to her daughter.

“Everyone has been great, including Republican Sinn Fein,” she said.

“I just hope this man is brought to justice and no other family has to go through this,” she said.

The PSNI last night issued an appeal after the incident in the early hours of Saturday morning.

A PSNI spokesperson described it as a ‘disturbing incident’.

He said: “A mum with kids in bed alongside her was woken between 2:30am and 2:45am to find a man standing over the end of her bed.

“Nothing was said, or taken, but when challenged by an understandably terrified home owner, he ran off down the stairs and out the front door. We believe he entered through an open upstairs window.

“He is described as a while male skinhead, tall, late 20s, wearing a cream shirt and blue jeans.

“This would be a petrifying ordeal for anyone, but more so for a parent with children to protect.

“If you were in the area last night and saw anyone matching that description in or around the estate, please call us on 101.

“Someone out there must have seen something. There is a mum out there who will no doubt lie awake tonight worrying. Help us keep her safe. Help us find out who is responsible.

“The incident number is 705 of today, 30/03/19.”

Today a PSNI officer said: “Police in Craigavon are investigating a report that a female resident in the Drumbeg area awoke at around 2.30am on Saturday morning, 30 March, to find an unknown male inside her bedroom.

“Enquiries are now underway to establish exactly what has happened and to locate the male involved.

“Please contact police if you were in the area during the early hours of Saturday morning and saw a man described as in his 20s with a shaved head, wearing jeans and a cream top. Investigating officers can be reached by calling 101, quoting reference 705 30/03/19.”

Related topics: