Dad’s horror after daughter, 3, was ‘led away by stranger to their car at Dublin family festival’
Woman 'told girl she would take her on a hot air balloon ride' in alleged broad daylight kidnap attempt
A TERRIFIED dad has told how his three-year-old daughter was "led away to an isolated car" at a family festival.
Graham O'Doherty said his tiny daughter was with her grandfather when a "strange woman" grabbed the youngster's hand while he wasn't looking.
The granddad had been keeping an eye on the girl while she was playing at the kite and balloon festival in Sandycove in Dublin, Ireland.
Mr O'Doherty says his daughter had been playing with a kite before a woman "promised her a hot air balloon trip" and led her away on July 30.
He said: “My father was fixing a kite and keeping an eye on my daughter when he saw her take the hand of a strange woman and they walked away.
"By the time my father reached them the woman had joined another man and they were heading towards a parked car in a desolate car park."
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He added that his father sprinted after the couple, who were in their late 20s, as they headed towards the car which was "positioned near an exit".
Speaking to the Independent.ie, he said: "The woman said 'Oh is this your child?'
"They were shocked that they were approached because they were walking away from all activity.
Mr O'Doherty said he was "sick to his stomach" when he asked his young daughter what happened.
The girl told her dad the woman asked her if she wanted to go on a hot air balloon ride, and offered her a "snowball sweet that tasted like strawberries".
Mr O'Doherty said: “You’d like to tell yourself it was innocent but it all adds up to something sinister. My daughter, while she’s only three, she wouldn’t embellish the story because she didn’t know anything was wrong.
“It took a while for me and my wife to process it. We were dumbfounded. It’s a cliché but I was sick to my stomach.
“It’s something you’d never expect to happen so near your home. It’s something that might happen on holidays.”
Irish police are investigating the alleged attempted kidnap of the child.