Chilling unseen footage shows the moment a masked intruder paces up and down a suburban street before ‘snatching a one-year-old boy from his cot in the middle of the night’
- New footage shows alleged kidnapper pacing street before taking the baby
- The toddler’s mother’s 31-year-old ex-boyfriend was charged with child stealing
- He claims to have ‘undiagnosed schizophrenia’ and said he was hearing voices
- The boy was missing for seven hours before police were able to track him down
- Child was found at boarding house 14 minutes’ drive from where he was taken
Shocking new video footage has shown a man walking up and down a Brisbane street before allegedly kidnapping a 20-month-old from his cot in the dead of the night.
The masked man charged with snatching the toddler from a Brisbane home has been refused bail after claiming to be an undiagnosed schizophrenic who ‘heard voices’ before the alleged incident.
The court heard the 31-year-old was not biologically related to the little boy, but briefly dated his mother ‘some time ago’.
Shocking new video footage has shown a man walking up and down a Brisbane street before allegedly kidnapping a 20-month-old from his cot in the dead of the night. Pictured: The toddler and his step-grandfather
The masked man (pictured) charged with snatching the toddler from a Brisbane home was refused bail after claiming to be an undiagnosed schizophrenic who ‘heard voices’ before the alleged incident. The court heard the 31-year-old was not biologically related to the little boy, but briefly dated his mother ‘some time ago’
While the boy is ‘safe and well’, the alleged child snatcher was refused bail on Monday on the grounds he posed an ‘unacceptable risk’ to the community.
The alleged kidnapper took the child at 4.10am, before the toddler was found unharmed at a home on Orange Grove Road in Salisbury at about 10.50am that same day.
Seven hours after he was taken, the baby was found at an address in nearby Salisbury, a 14-minute drive from where he was taken.
The child’s step-grandfather said learning of the accused’s mental health conditions made the ordeal ‘all the more scary’.
‘He could’ve done something even more serious inside the house… We could’ve all been hurt. Other kids were asleep, he could’ve picked any of them.
‘I am still shaking at the fact that a total stranger can be in the house with all the kids asleep and my partner asleep.’
Six other children were sleeping inside the house when the man allegedly crept in about 4am and scooped the little boy out of his cot.
Seven hours after he was taken, the boy (pictured) was found at an address in nearby Salisbury, a 14-minute drive from where he was taken
The child’s step-grandfather (pictured) said learning of his mental health conditions made the ordeal ‘all the more scary’
The step-granddad, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said when he realised the boy was not in his cot he immediately rushed around the house to try to find him.
‘The bedroom door was open and it’s normally closed,’ he told The Courier Mail.
‘After we had searched the house we knew there was something wrong and we were straight onto police.’
The alleged kidnapper was wearing fingerless gloves, a baseball cap and a face mask, along with ‘distinctive shoes’, police said.
The man allegedly gained entry into the house by climbing over a wooden fence.
It is not yet clear what the man’s motives were for taking the little boy.
The alleged snatcher took the child at 4.10am, before the toddler was found unharmed at a home on Orange Grove Road in Salisbury at about 10.50am that same day. Pictured: The masked intruder who allegedly snatched toddler seen pacing street