Primark kidnapping teenagers sentenced for abduction of toddler

The kidnappers had skipped school and spent hours in the Primark in Northumberland Street, Newcastle, waiting for a child to abduct

The pair appeared at Newcastle Crown Court today (Mick_Gallagher_1959/Flickr Creative Commons )

Two teenagers who kidnapped a toddler from a Primark store in Newcastle have been sentenced to three years and three months' detention.

The girls, aged 13 and 14, admitted kidnapping the two-year-old girl at an earlier hearing.

The toddler was discovered an hour and 45 minutes later after CCTV footage was used to track the child to a park three miles from the shop.

Mr Justice Globe concluded that the girls took the two-year-old from her mother and serious harm to the child was foreseeable.

Sitting at Newcastle Crown Court, he told them the toddler was at risk of physical or sexual violence, and/or exploitation.

He was referring to internet searches made on a tablet belonging to the younger defendant.

He said: "The internet history shows hundreds of searches in relation to pornographic topics which include children having sex, rape, slavery and abduction."

The younger of the two defendants had been groomed by an unknown man and swapped sexual messages on the chat site ooVoo, the court heard.

Both had tried to claim that they abducted the two-year-old on April 13 from the city centre store in Newcastle following pressure from a third party. However, police found no evidence of anyone else being involved in the kidnap.

The judge initially sentenced them to three years and four months but took a month off having heard they have been subject to a curfew since they pleaded guilty to kidnap.

The two girls had been playing with the little girl for 15 minutes in a display which the mother believed was "sweet" before they enticed her away with sweets, the court heard.

The kidnappers had skipped school and spent hours in the Primark in Northumberland Street, Newcastle, waiting for a child to abduct.

They had already approached two others, and almost tricked the mother of one of them when they tried to lead her daughter away. They had engaged that child's mother by saying the little one was "beautiful" and asking whether she could speak.

Sarah Barlow, prosecuting, told the court they later grabbed another girl, and walked out of the store, leaving her mother devastated.

Miss Barlow said: "She was described by one witness as banging her head against a wall, she was so utterly distraught."