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A mum says she has been left in fear after a middle-aged man attempted to snatch her four-year-old son in the middle of a busy supermarket.
The incident happened at ASDA in Canterbury on Thursday night, with a man reaching out to the boy, prompting the distressed mother to alert security.
A Kent Police spokesman confirmed they responded to the alert about a man acting suspiciously. Officers attended the store at 10.45pm and took details about the incident.
The mother, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I asked a staff member for help to find some popcorn. I walked with my son over to the boxes and was right next to him, when a man just approached him.
“The man held his hand out and demanded my son to take it. He already had another hand full of shopping which he had paid for.
“I asked him what he was doing. He just said it was ok and tried again to get the hand of my son.
“I went into complete meltdown. Why would he do that? He had done his shopping. Why had he walked all the way back into the store?
“Nobody in their right mind walks back into the store after they’ve done their shopping, to go up to a child and demand that they take their hand.
“My son was very surprised. I asked him what the man had said, the man had said ‘give me your hand’ to him.
“I’m really petrified that this man is going to find me again. I’ve lost sleep over it!”
The man, who she described as Asian, in his 40s to 50s and wearing a green coat, fled the store while she alerted security.
"I went into complete meltdown. Why would he do that? He had done his shopping. Why had he walked all the way back into the store?" - the boy's mother
They called the police, who are investigating the incident.
ASDA spokesman Amy Garbutt said: “The incident happened towards the back of the store where a stranger is thought to have shook the hand of a customer’s son.”
The man was challenged and left the store, and it is believed that police have not been able to trace his movements.
The mum believes the police have failed to take the incident seriously and warned other parents.
She added: “They said to me that once the man had left the store there was nothing more they could do. He hadn’t touched my son so no crime had been committed.
“They put the incident in their police intelligence system, but they can’t find where he went after.
“I think people need to be more than vigilant about this, and aware that something could be going on
“If something were to happen in future and I haven’t reported it I couldn’t live with myself.”
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