Attempted abduction in Ridgewood

Elliee

Confirmation from school, that on Monday evening, a man in a dark coloured car tried to take a 7 year old girl from ridgewood estate.
Local schools have sent out texts and letters home to inform parents.
Gardai are aware of the situation.
So just be extra vigilant of your kids.

The Hill Billy

For posters not familiar with it - the Ridgewood Estate is in Swords.

S23

Shocking stuff. I don't have any kids but I'll certainly keep my eyes open for anything suspect now.

rpurfield

thats terrible the OH works in the tesco there ill say it to her in case anyone in the shop seen anything

BollickyBill

S23 wrote: »

Shocking stuff. I don't have any kids but I'll certainly keep my eyes open for anything suspect now.

Everyone in ALL the different areas in North County Dublin should keep their eyes open. This guy is mobile and will probably try again somewhere else. Not just parents but everybody should be watching out for this dark blue car. This person may have an accomplace so don't just look for a singhe occupant. Watch out for anything suspicious especially near schools, playgrounds or open spaces where kids play. This sick bas***d must be caught.

sNarah

Are the gardai opening an investigation, I hope full details have been reported to them??

T-Maxx

"Apparently"?

Sizzler

Has this been actually verified?

The Hill Billy

As mentioned in the OP...
"Local schools have sent out texts and letters home to inform parents.
Gardai are aware of the situation."

This incident is obviously being taken seriously enough if local schools are taking that course of action.

Elliee

I will edit my post. Apparently is the wrong word to have in my first post. It is verfied. letters have been sent home from another school in Swords today. I think most schools in Swords now have sent letters or texts home.

I will say apparently though as I dont now if this case is confirmed but my sons playschool sent a text this morning to say there was another attempt in knocksedan estate last night and that gardai know about this case also.

Sizzler

Hill Billy wrote: »

As mentioned in the OP...
"Local schools have sent out texts and letters home to inform parents.
Gardai are aware of the situation."

This incident is obviously being taken seriously enough if local schools are taking that course of action.

The reason I asked was, I know a member of the force and mentioned this to him last night and he said he heard nothing of the kind, so just wanted to check.

Suffice to say parents should always be on guard anyway!

Elliee

I wouldnt imagine every member of the force, even every member of the force in Swords station knows everything that is going on in Swords at the present time.

Parents should always be on gaurd but no harm in bringing this to the attention of parents in Swords and north county Dublin and thats why I started this.

T-Maxx

I wonder if this has any relation to the incident in Cherry Park (just behind Ridgewood) where a young girl was molested by a guy, oh, probably about 2 years ago. IIRC the guy was also described as young and dressed in a dark suit.

Drella118

I work locally in Ridgewood and the Guards were in on Tuesday looking for CCTV footage to see if they could identify the car, so there is an active investigation into the matter.
There is a certain amount of panic in the air. I have heard rumours going around that a boy was abducted on Wednesday and found the following morning with his hands and feet bound. No child has been abducted, but there certainly do appear to have been abduction attempts in the area, so all parents should be extra vigilant.

Larianne

Scary stuff. And especially with the new playground that was opened up recently in Rathingle.

Sizzler

Northside People have carried the story on their front page this week I see, when you go to page 4 for the remainder of the article though the story seems to have developed into somewhat of a chinese whisper with differing versions of events.

Frank Spencer

It was in the Hedild

Alert after driver tries to abduct two girls

PARENTS in a North Dublin suburb are being urged to be vigilant following the attempted abduction of two young girls.

A man in a dark car offered two girls a lift to a nearby playground in the north Dublin suburb of Swords.

The man, aged between 25 and 35, had dark, slicked-back hair and was dressed in a suit, according to witnesses.

He pulled up in the Ridgewood estate in a car which was described as being similar to a Volkswagen or a BMW with silver detailing.

But the quick-thinking children, aged seven and eight, ran away from the man and refused to get into the vehicle.

Garda sources said that a charcoal black car was spotted in the area on April 26.

The children have since met with gardai and given a description of the man.

An apparent second abduction attmept was reported in the Knocksedan area on Thursday April 29, but gardai confirmed that it was a false alarm.

Cllr Anne Devitt (Fine Gael) told the Herald that parents in the area need to be on the alert.

"It's a timely reminder that we have to be vigilant with our children," she said.

"It's unfortunate at a time when we are trying to encourage children to walk to school," she added.

But she said that the children should be commended for being wise and their parents for good training.

Cllr Devitt said that a number of schools have now organised a 'walking bus' for school children.

The idea is that parents supervise a group of young children, who hold onto a rope, on the walk into school.

Cllr Devitt said that this was first piloted in Donabate.

"You still have to encourage the independence of children," she said. "It's a safe way of getting to school with all the worries of traffic and strangers and it's sociable for parents and for the children."

A number of schools have now issued warning letters to every home and teachers have revised the safety programme with each class, particularly with the advent of summer and good weather.

Sizzler

This is being covered on Crimecall tomorrow night.