Girl, 11, escapes white van abduction attempt

TWO men tried to abduct an 11-year-old girl as she cycled near her home, gardaí said yesterday.

The pair were travelling in a large white van through Oylgate, in Co Wexford, on Monday lunchtime when they pulled over and offered the girl a lift. They were heading towards Enniscorthy at the time.

The men, both aged in their 20s, attempted to coax her into the vehicle and drove alongside her for several yards, until she ducked off the cycle path into a neighbour’s house. The men did not pursue the girl, who rang her mother from her mobile phone.

Gardaí in the village investigating the incident are anxious to trace the men and talk to anyone who may have witnessed the incident along the specially constructed cycle path on the Enniscorthy side of Oylgate at around 12.30pm.

The young girl was said to be left extremely traumatised after the incident and was only able to provide gardaí with a vague description of the men. One of them was wearing a navy baseball cap with the letter N printed on the front.

A garda spokesman commented: “We are treating this matter extremely seriously. We’ve been in contact with Enniscorthy gardaí and there have been no similar approaches to children in that area. But we would urge children and their parents to be on the alert.”

Oylgate gardaí can be contacted on (053) 38132.