A terrified mom woke up in the the early hours of the morning to find a stranger in her home sitting on the stairs talking to her two-year-old son.
The mother immediately phoned the police after discovering the intruder with her child at 4 a.m.
The police arrived at the property in Hyde, Greater Manchester, and arrested a woman on suspicion of attempted abduction. She remains in custody for questioning.
The post read: “4am this morning I woke up to a woman on my stairs with my 2 year old son trying to kidnap him while me and [R***] slept in the next room.
“This is Hyde area. Share to let people know.
“I’m lucky I woke up or I wouldn’t have my little love. Please everyone be careful Christmas night, make sure all doors and windows are locked,” she cautioned others.
“Christmas is traditionally a time when families gather together, and many people go abroad to visit relatives and loves ones,” Harriet Baldwin MP, Minister for Consular Policy, said.
“Sadly, it is also a time when child abduction cases surge,” she said.
As if that wasn’t alarming enough, a new study identified Greater Manchester as the child abduction capital of the country.
While the ‘vast majority’ were unsuccessful ‘attempts,’ it is still the highest number of reports to any police force, including the Metropolitan Police, which covers the London area.
The number of cases in Greater Manchester is equivalent to 21.75 offences per 100,000 children. That is more than three times the national average and almost double the number of the second highest area, reported Manchester Evening News.
For the mother in Hyde, her waking up in time meant she was able to narrowly avoid what would have been a heartbreaking disaster.
The incident has raised several questions that the locals want answers to. Why was the woman in the house? And if she really wanted to abduct the child, why would she take the time to sit on the stairs and talk to him?
A spokesman for the Greater Manchester Police didn’t have much more details to add about the incident that wasn’t already known.
“Just after 4 a.m. this morning, police attended an address in Hyde as a result of a report of an adult woman being found in the house, with one of the young children who lives in the house,” he told the press.
“Police were called and arrived shortly after. An adult woman has been arrested and enquiries are ongoing to establish the circumstances.”
