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Girl, nine, snatched off Sandwell street

A nine-year-old girl was snatched off a Sandwell street by a kidnapper while walking home from Sunday morning prayer, a judge heard.

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The victim had just got off a bus and was walking home when Edward Burns struck, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The 38-year-old knocked the child to the ground between two parked cars and fell on top of her, explained Mr Daniel White, prosecuting.

She was pinned face down and unable to cry out for help in Belmont Road, Bearwood. Burns, who admitted kidnapping, then picked her up in a bear hug and carried the terrified girl down an alley after breaking her grip on a fence post to which she frantically clung at the entrance.

The girl was kicking, screaming and flailing her arms about in a desperate bid to escape from his grasp, said Mr White. A woman pedestrian saw the child disappearing down the passageway that led to the block of flats where Burns lived.

She shouted 'let her go', which he did before fleeing. The victim – on her way home from a mosque – was so scared by what happened she is likely to need counselling and her family want to move out of the area because it reminds her of what happened, her father said. But she was able to give detectives such a detailed description of the culprit – who had no history of offences against children – that he was traced and arrested at his home just days later.

Brazen Burns at first told detectives: "I grabbed the little girl for her own safety. I am a hero."

He later claimed to have been drinking and to have downed a litre bottle of Bacardi before committing the offence around lunch time on March 29.

Mr White said: "This was sexual in nature. Whether he was drunk or sober is irrelevant."

Mr Gurdeep Garcha, defending, said: "The offence was short lived, lasting no more than 90 seconds.

"It was obviously disturbing and unpleasant but there was no sexual or physical assault. He is not in denial and has admitted his guilt, sparing the child the ordeal of having to come to court to give evidence.

"There are no excuses but the court must sentence him for what he did rather than what might have happened."

Burns, of Bearwood Road, Bearwood, was further remanded in custody until tomorrow when he will be sentenced.

The court heard he has not offered any explanation for what happened claiming he had drunk so much he remembers nothing of the incident.

Detective Sergeant Leighton Shingles, from Force CID at West Midlands Police, said today: "It is important to remember abductions by strangers are extremely rare.

"The young girl was very upset by the attack, but fortunately wasn't injured.

"She was remarkably brave and gave us a detailed description of the man who attacked her, which led to his arrest and his guilty plea."

He added: "A woman who was alerted by the distressed girl should also be thanked for her public-spirited actions, after intervening by approaching her to see if she was OK.

"We would remind people to report any suspicious activity to police on 101. Reports are always taken seriously and investigated based on the information from the accounts given."

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