This article is from page 1 of the 2007-08-28 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 1 JPG
ALLEGATIONS that an attempt was made to abduct a nine-year-old girl from a shop in Killaloe at lunch- time on Friday are now the subject of a detailed garda investigation.
The young girl has claimed that a man attempted to take her by the hand and bring her out of a local su- permarket, at the Green, at around lpm on Friday afternoon.
The girl, from Killaloe town, was
with her cousin and a sibling — aged five and 10 — at the time of the al- leged incident.
She claims that she was approached by aman — believed to be around 40 years of age — near the deli counter of the shop, who attempted to hold her hand. She told gardai she resisted the approach and managed to raise the alarm. The young girl and her mother made a complaint at the local garda station, a short time after.
A number of people who were in
the shop at the time agreed that a man fitting the description was on the premises, but nobody saw any- thing untoward happening.
Gardai have issued a description of the man. They say he is around 40 years of age, six foot tall and was bald with a grey beard. He was wear- ing pale blue shirt and jeans, a grey hoodie and white runners.
‘The man described by the girl was unusual looking. She says he wanted to bring her with him, but she re-
sisted.
“This is an isolated report and would have happened in a matter of 10 seconds. We have not had any other calls in relation to this,” said a garda spokesman.
Local County Councillor Tony O’Brien (FF) is urging parents to be vigilant. “I would be concerned that something like that would happen in a town such as Killaloe. Of course parents of young children would be anxious,’ he said.