Man attempts to abduct 5-year-old as she played in her garden

A five-year-old girl in Wexford was nearly snatched from her own garden by an unknown man last week. The incident happened in Camolin, Co Wexford on March 22, and gardaí are now investigating the incident and seeking to speak with the man involved, who fled the scene. It was when she heard her granddaughter Hollie (5) crying that Ann Roche became concerned and ran outside the family home in St Moling's Terrace  – only to find a strange man holding the distressed child by her hand. Roche then confronted the man, who upon spotting Roche coming outside, threw the child to the ground and fled the scene. "I heard her crying and screaming and only thought maybe she had hurt herself," Roche tells the Irish Independent. "But when I got out I could see a man holding onto her and he would not let go."

Roche describes the man as being in his 40s with black hair, of overweight build and wearing a red jumper.

"My granddaughter was saying: 'He was going to take me away, he was going to take me'." Jumping a wall to get away, the stranger ran when confronted. "I grabbed her and ran inside and locked all the doors," Roche explains. "We were so afraid and in shock, but our main concern was trying to calm Hollie down." The Roche family have reported the incident to gardaí, who have appealed to anyone who may have seen the man involved or suspicious behaviour to contact them.