Police arrest suspect over the attempted abduction of a five-year-old boy

Police arrest suspect over the attempted abduction of a five-year-old boy who was rescued by his mother

  • A man has been arrested in connection with the attempted abduction 
  • Boy approached by man in Northolt, West London, who ‘picked him up and ran off’
  • Man was then confronted by boy’s mother at Northala Fields and ‘put him down’

A man has been arrested in connection to the attempted abduction of a five-year-old boy in a park in west London. 

The child was allegedly approached by a man in Northolt, West London, who picked him up and ran off before being confronted by the boy’s mother.

The boy was then put down and was unharmed during the incident at the Northala Fields open space on January 7 at about 2.30pm.

The Metropolitan Police said a 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of attempted abduction of a child at an address in Surrey on Saturday and taken into custody. 

Detective Constable Ashleigh Nelson from West Area Command Area Criminal Investigation Department said: ‘Incidents of this nature are very rare.

‘But I understand the concern it may have caused in the local community. I want to reassure people we are doing everything we can to find out who is responsible.

The incident happened at Northala Fields in Northolt, West London (file image)

Northala Fields is a 68-acre open space which was opened in 2008 after four years of site work, and was built using waste from the original Wembley Stadium.

It features four conical earth mounds along the A40 edge of the site and a viewpoint of the surrounding area on top of the tallest mound which is 72ft (22m) high.

Ealing Council bought the site in 1997 to turn it into a park, with it having previously been used as playing fields by the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. 

Anyone with information should call police on 101 or tweet @MetCC quoting CRIS 2500522/21, or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111