Man hunted after snatch bid

Police in Belfast were tonight hunting for a middle aged man who attempted to abduct a teenage girl from a street in broad daylight.

The 16-year-old was walking in the east of the city when a car stopped beside her close to the junction of the Holywood Road and Circular Road and the male driver asked for directions.

The man suddenly grabbed the girl by the wrist and tried to pull her into the car, said a police spokesman.

The girl managed to break free and ran to a relative’s house to raise the alarm.

Detective Constable Stevie Robinson said: “She is badly shocked but not injured.

“We are treating this very seriously due to the fact that she had to break free to escape.”

He appealed for a number of people who were in the area at around 9.40am today and may have seen the attempted snatch to contact police.

Detective Constable Robinson also urged parents in the area to keep a close watch on their children to prevent any further abduction attempts.

“We don’t want to alarm people but we urge parents to keep a close eye on their children and report anything suspicious,” he said.

The girl told police the man was aged in his early 50’s with brown hair and a bushy moustache and wrinkled face. He appeared to be tall and thin.

The large white car, with a large spoiler on the back looked like a Ford Sierra but more rounded, said the girl.

Meanwhile police in Londonderry were investigating reports that three men tried to persuade a 12-year-old boy to get into a car at New Buildings outside the city on Sunday night. The boy ran off.