A masked woman tried to snatch a four-year-old girl while her mother shopped just feet away, a court heard yesterday.
Anna Kaminska is said to have attempted to abduct the child by enticing her towards the back door of H&M at Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre in Edinburgh.
Kaminska, 26, is alleged to have approached the youngster and told her to ‘just come with me’.
Anna Kaminska is said to have attempted to abduct the child by enticing her towards the back door of H&M at Ocean Terminal Shopping Centre in Edinburgh. File photo
The child was seen starting to go off with the woman, who had her face covered with a scarf and large sunglasses, before her shocked mother managed to intervene.
Kaminska, a Polish national, is then alleged to have rushed from the shop following the incident last March.
CCTV footage of the disturbing incident was shown to a jury at Edinburgh Sheriff Court yesterday where Kaminska is standing trial accused of the attempted abduction of the child.
Kaminska, described as a prisoner of HMP Edinburgh, denies the allegation.
Giving evidence, the girl’s mother, who cannot be identified due to legal reasons, told the jury she was out shopping with her two children at around 7pm on March 28 last year.
The 42-year-old mum said: ‘We were in H&M and my daughter was on the other side of a stand playing with the jewellery.
‘The next minute I could hear someone saying to her ‘just come with me, just come with me’.
‘I could hear her scooter and heard her starting to go off (with the woman). They were going towards the back door.
‘I could see they were not holding hands but I said ‘what’s going on?’
The mother said when she confronted the disguised woman she mumbled ‘I didn’t know you were not allowed to do this’.
Kaminska, a Polish national, is then alleged to have rushed from the shop following the incident last March. File photo
She said the woman told her she had ‘a bad back’ before fleeing the store and she could only see her cheeks due to her disguise and that the woman had ‘an accent’.
Cheryl Booker, department manager at H&M, said she was approached by ‘a flustered customer’ who told her about the abduction attempt.
Mrs Booker said the alleged abductor was pointed out to her and she immediately informed security.
Kaminska was cleared of two shoplifting charges during yesterday’s hearing due to lack of evidence.
The trial in front of Sheriff Peter Braid continues.
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