Gardaí plan to interview kidnap victim

Gardaí were today planning to interview kidnap victim Helen Judge after she spent the night in hospital following her ordeal.

The mother of three, who was abducted from her Co Kildare home in the early hours of Monday morning, was found safely yesterday by gardaí.

Detectives are still trying to establish a motive for the kidnapping and hope to speak to Mrs Judge, 41, later today.

She was discovered in a remote wooded area in the Omeath area of Co Louth, close to the border with Northern Ireland, more than a 100 miles away from her home in the midlands yesterday.

Detectives and local police found her at around 5am after they were led to the scene by an anonymous tip-off to a special information line set up by police.

Mrs Judge was said to be severely traumatised by her ordeal and was admitted to Louth County Hospital for examination.

It is understood that when she was discovered she was wearing only the nightwear she had on when she was snatched from her home in Allenwood, Co Kildare more than 48 hours earlier.

Police said no ransom had been paid for Mrs Judge’s return, although a male caller had demanded a €200,000 ransom in a telephone call to the family home.