Mother at centre of baby kidnap case 'feared he'd been snatched'
The mother at the centre of a kidnap plot has told a jury the moment she thought her baby had been snatched from New Cross Hospital.
The mother of four took the stand at Wolverhampton Crown Court in the trial of student nurse Safia Ihmadei who is charged with attempted kidnap the baby in February this year.
After being born prematurely the baby was being treated at the neo-natal ward with his parents visiting at least twice a day.
However, on February 13, student nurse Ihmadei began "scouting" for a baby to snatch at the neo-natal unit and took an interest in a baby of Pakistani descent on the ward, the court heard.
She then tried to befriend the mother, quizzing her about the child's ethnicity, religion and food regimes and told nurses she was a family friend when she entered the ward alone.
The mother said: "She had spoken to me, about the baby being cold. I thought she was a nurse at first. But then I avoided her, something did not seem right.
"Every night I phone the ward, on this night the nurse told me 'oh your friend is here with blankets for the baby'."
The mother immediately knew there was a problem as she and her husband had not given anyone permission to visit their baby.
She said: "I told them straight away I have no friend who I would ask to take blankets to my baby. I told them I did not want any visitors. The nurse then had to go, and the phone call ended. I was really worried."
The frantic mother feared Ihmadei was posing as her friend to get to her baby and repeatedly phoned the ward until she got an answer.
She said: "I told the nurse I did not know this woman. She was not my friend. They told me my baby was fine."
Ihmadei had used her student nurse ID to gain access to the neo-natal unit several times, once taking a man 'to see the baby'.
Nurses raised the alarm and the next morning the 36-year-old was suspended from her course at Wolverhampton University and told to stay away from the hospital.
However, the next morning Ihmadei, of Upper Vauxhall, again tried to get to the neo-natal unit but was spotted by nurses and the baby's parents who confronted her.
The father told the court: "I heard on the intercom, a lady say she was a friend of my wife. I then saw her on the screen.
"I asked my wife if she knew her and she said no. I told the nurse this lady was using my Mrs name to get into see babies.
"My wife, a nurse and the lady went into a room.
"I asked her if she knew my wife, if she had been asked to bring blankets up, she said no."
He added: "I said why did you bring blankets then and she said she wanted to help us because we were Muslim. She then spoke to me in Urdu and I told her to speak English because there were other people around like the nurses."
"More nurses came and I think this was when she was arrested."
A nurse present when Ihmadei was arrested by police said "she asked if we could pass on her apologies to the baby's parents".
When police officers searched Ihmadei's car they found new baby clothes, a baby comforter, her passport and £1,500 which the prosecution allege she was going to use to flee Wolverhampton.
Ihmadei denies attempted kidnap. Charges against three other people, also from Upper Vauxhall, in connection with the case were dropped.
The trial continues.