Third child abduction attempt near school reported to police in string of failed kidnappings
A third child abduction attempt has been reported to police after a child was allegedly followed home from school.
A pupil at Hawes Down Primary School was followed by an unknown adult, according to a letter home to parents seen by The Standard.
Police confirmed they had received report of the incident at around 3.30pm at The Mead in West Wickham on Wednesday, May 5.
But a Met spokesman said they were not linking the stalking to previous child abduction attempts reported less than two miles away in Beckenham.
Headteacher Matt De Freitas wrote in the letter: “We do not wish your child to be anxious or scared about this incident. However, we do want them to be safe and vigilant.”
The school issued a set of guidelines if children were walking home alone, including having a mobile phone, walking in groups as far as they can and know of a safe space.
It comes after a schoolboy from Clare House Primary School in Beckenham was told to go with a hooded man wearing a mask as he played in a wooded area of Kelsey Park at 4.30pm on Friday.
The man fled when the boy shouted out to a nearby friend.
This followed another attempted abduction of an 11-year-old boy walking home from school in nearby Whitmore Road in Beckenham on Friday afternoon when two men in a small black van asked him if he wanted a lift, the Metropolitan Police said.
His mother Sherise Blackman, who played cop Ruby Jones in the hit BBC series Line of Duty, called police after a group of men tried to get him into the van.
The youngster managed to get help from people playing tennis and evade the attempted abductors as he was walking home from school.
Watch the latest videos from Yahoo News UK
Read More
UK to step up diplomatic efforts with France amid Jersey fishing row
Holidaymakers to find out quarantine-free destinations
Polls close in Holyrood’s strangest – and most important – election yet
