Two teenage girls CHARGED with kidnap after three-year-old disappears from Primark store
TWO teenage girls have been charged with kidnapping a three-year-old girl from a Primark store in Newcastle city centre.
Two teenagers took the toddler to a park in the Gosforth area
The toddler was found by a police officer more than an hour later, three miles away in the Gosforth area of the city.
Northumbria Police said they have also charged the girls, who have not been named, with two counts of shoplifting.
The pair will appear at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court on Friday.
This has been an incredibly distressing time
There was then a tearful reunion between the mother and her little girl.
Police were alerted to the girl's disappearance at around 5pm on Wednesday, triggering a city-wide search.
The teenagers had allegedly left the store with the toddler, leaving her mother "incredibly" distressed.
Officers trawled through CCTV from Newcastle City Council, local shops, Newcastle University, bus companies, the Metro and their own cameras in search of the child.
After searching for more than an hour the girl was found by a police community support officer and reunited with her mother.
The teenagers were arrested in Gosforth Central Park.
Northumberland Police described the teenage girls as “strangers” to the three-year-old.
Chief Inspector Dave Gould said: “Thankfully the child was quickly located by officers and then reunited with her mother.
The toddler was found in Gosforth Central Park
The shocking incident happened in Newcastle, North East England
“This has been an incredibly distressing time. Specialist officers are working with and supporting the family.
“We mobilised all available police resources to make sure the girl was found as quickly as possible. Our inquiries continue to establish the circumstances of what happened."
Shocking moment woman kidnaps newborn after losing baby
The toddler went missing in a Primark store
A Primark spokeswoman said the company was “co-operating with the police on the investigation”.
Catherine McKinnell, Labour MP for Newcastle North, praised the police and other organisations involved in finding the girl, describing the incident on Twitter as “every parent’s nightmare”.