Two teenage girls are to face trial in Britain after they allegedly abducted a child from a busy clothing store as her mother shopped.
Police believe the girls, sisters aged 13 and 14, planned the kidnap and took the two-year-old with the intention of committing a sexual offence.
They are also charged with shoplifting, having allegedly stolen baby milk, a baby bottle and pacifiers from a Boots pharmacy.
The terrifying incident occurred in April at a Primark store in Northumberland Street, Newcastle, when the alarm was raised at approximately 5pm. After a huge search operation involving police from all over Tyneside, the child was found almost two hours later, three miles away in a Gosforth park.
Both alleged kidnappers, neither of whom entered pleas, appeared at a short youth court hearing in North Tyneside today. They were accompanied by social workers and will both be remanded into local authority care until their trial begins on June 7.
