Who's At Fault Here, The Mother, The Old Chap Or The Police For Letting Him Go.

[anotheoldgit]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2624053/Every-parents-nightmare-Chilling-CCTV-shows-moment-man-attempts-lead-toddler-away-mother-momentarily-turned-shopping-centre.html

I think the mother, you just do not let a youngster of that age wander around a busy shopping mall hoping that he is following you, notice the way the mother changes direction, yet for a short while the youngster walks straight on.

The outcome of this could have been much worse had the man had more serious intentions.

[joko]

(?) ... yes, i know jno ...
hence why i mentioned that in my comment ...

[Peter Pedant]

O I still intervene- perhaps I dont learn from other peoples experiences, and ask loudly:

where are your parents, where are this child's parents ?

and people fall over the take the child off me.
which is kinda what I want .....

[royfromaus]

The child was clearly following the woman with the pushchair. Why didn't the 'confused' old man ask her (after all she was the nearest person) if it was her child?
The woman is not at fault imo. I'm not sure what the police could do on just that video.

[ludwig]

// Well--Unless she's got eyes in the 'back of her head' She didn't seem to be watching the child. //

How do you think she realised the man was walking off with the child then - telepathy?

[joko]

i am not a mother but i know from being out with kids of friends and family, you are almost always 'aware' of where they are ... you are constantly looking round, looking out the corner of your eye, listening for their footsteps or chatter etc

she turned round after only a few steps to check he was behind her, it wasnt like she just wandered off inside the shop oblivious.

personally at that age i would have reigns on my own kids, esepcially in a place like that, where they can run and hide and be hard to see etc ... he was too young to be aware, and just walked off with the man

[Canary42]

The woman was fully aware all the time - this was probably a "sting" operation by the Daily Mail - mucky journalism at its worst.

[joko]

for all we know, he had spotted the 'loose' toddler and was following them round the mall, just waiting for a moment when his mum was distracted enough - he certainly seemed to walk up to the kid fast and with purpose ...

they was no confusion, no standing around wondering what to do and lookng around etc

i spotted a lone toddler once, in the street, and i recall how i reacted ... concern, wonder, confusion, worry etc etc - i most certainly did not just grab her hand and walk off fast

[andy-hughes]

As a parent of three and a grandfather of five, I have always made it a rule that any of my children of grandchildren at that age held hands with me or another adult I was with, to avoid that split-second when you can lose sight of them.

I would certainly try and assist a child I perceive to be lost, but the golden rule has to be 'Do NOT Touch' - there is no reason at all to take the child by the hand and walk them anywhere, the chances are the adult with them is somewhere near, so moving away will always cause more problems than it solves.

I would suggest that the police convey the 'do not touch' edict to this gentleman for future reference.

[ludwig]

The police seem satisfied with his explanation. I doubt that people suddenly turn into paedophiles or child abductors at an advanced age, so it's likely he'd be on their files if he was an offender, in which case he'd still be in custody.
He was probably brought up in an age when it was ok to hold a child's hand without everyone assuming you were a paedophile.

[EDDIE51]

Yet again the Dail Wail attempts to manufacture a drama by using words such as 'shocking, if that word was left out there is no story. The man just tried to help but made the mistake of assuming the wrong woman to be the mother. I could have done the same in the same situation.