This is Somerset -- A Street mum said her 12-year-old daughter was left terrified after a man approached her in a park claiming he was her father. Although the police arrested him under the Mental Health Act for a public order offence, the family remains concerned about the incident. "There is no doubt in my mind that it was more than that," said the mum, who asked not to be identified. She said the man had been hanging around Merriman Park in Street for more than a week, and believes he had developed a fixation with her daughter. He had heard the children she was playing with call her by her name. "The kids thought he might have been there with a dog, or something," the mother said. "And they didn't really take too much notice of him." However on Sunday, April 21, the man started calling her name. "At first she thought he was calling for a dog, or messing around, so she ignored him," the girl's mother said. "They just carried on playing. Then he approached her, and said that he thought she was his daughter. He got agitated and started shaking the fence, and she shouted help, and ran away from him." A neighbour spotted the scene, and went over to intervene, calling the police. "I'm very proud of my daughter," she said. "She did exactly the right thing – like a lot of parents, we'd told her what to do if she thought she might be in trouble, and she did exactly that." The police were called, and the man was arrested. "We understood the man had some issues, and were under the impression that he would be kept in for treatment," the girl's mum said. "The police came and took statements from us, and from our neighbours and my daughter. "No-one got in touch with us to say that he'd been released – there's nothing to stop him from coming back to the park and trying to contact her again." She added that since the family initially gave statements, she has had no contact from the police, although Victim Support had contacted them to offer support services. As a result of the police calling the incident a false alarm, she says her daughter has been called a liar at school. "That just isn't the case," she said. "I understand that the man involved had some mental health issues, I don't know that he was looking to hurt her, or do anything to her, but my daughter was terrified, and there is no doubt in my mind that this was more than a public order offence. "I'm proud of my daughter and the way she has handled this – the rest of my family were very taken up, but after the initial scare she seems to have taken it in her stride and is determined not to let it affect her life." Chief Inspector Sean Williams from the police said: "We were called to a reported abduction but this was clearly not the case. "It was a man with mental health problems who did not try to abduct, grab or harm the girl physically but tried to speak to her, although he was loud and intimidating. "Allegations were made in the social media at the time which were incorrect and raised concerns in the local community. "We spoke to the victim with her family and it was clear that the man had not tried to abduct the child. "The man was detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act but was not sectioned and was then taken into police custody. "He was released during the middle of the night and therefore the family were not advised at that time and I will be looking into this. "The man was released on conditional bail prohibiting him from entering certain parts of Street."
Reported by This is 1 day ago.
This is Somerset -- A Street mum said her 12-year-old daughter was left terrified after a man approached her in a park claiming he was her father. Although the police arrested him under the Mental Health Act for a public order offence, the family remains concerned about the incident. "There is no doubt in my mind that it was more than that," said the mum, who asked not to be identified. She said the man had been hanging around Merriman Park in Street for more than a week, and believes he had developed a fixation with her daughter. He had heard the children she was playing with call her by her name. "The kids thought he might have been there with a dog, or something," the mother said. "And they didn't really take too much notice of him." However on Sunday, April 21, the man started calling her name. "At first she thought he was calling for a dog, or messing around, so she ignored him," the girl's mother said. "They just carried on playing. Then he approached her, and said that he thought she was his daughter. He got agitated and started shaking the fence, and she shouted help, and ran away from him." A neighbour spotted the scene, and went over to intervene, calling the police. "I'm very proud of my daughter," she said. "She did exactly the right thing – like a lot of parents, we'd told her what to do if she thought she might be in trouble, and she did exactly that." The police were called, and the man was arrested. "We understood the man had some issues, and were under the impression that he would be kept in for treatment," the girl's mum said. "The police came and took statements from us, and from our neighbours and my daughter. "No-one got in touch with us to say that he'd been released – there's nothing to stop him from coming back to the park and trying to contact her again." She added that since the family initially gave statements, she has had no contact from the police, although Victim Support had contacted them to offer support services. As a result of the police calling the incident a false alarm, she says her daughter has been called a liar at school. "That just isn't the case," she said. "I understand that the man involved had some mental health issues, I don't know that he was looking to hurt her, or do anything to her, but my daughter was terrified, and there is no doubt in my mind that this was more than a public order offence. "I'm proud of my daughter and the way she has handled this – the rest of my family were very taken up, but after the initial scare she seems to have taken it in her stride and is determined not to let it affect her life." Chief Inspector Sean Williams from the police said: "We were called to a reported abduction but this was clearly not the case. "It was a man with mental health problems who did not try to abduct, grab or harm the girl physically but tried to speak to her, although he was loud and intimidating. "Allegations were made in the social media at the time which were incorrect and raised concerns in the local community. "We spoke to the victim with her family and it was clear that the man had not tried to abduct the child. "The man was detained under Section 136 of the Mental Health Act but was not sectioned and was then taken into police custody. "He was released during the middle of the night and therefore the family were not advised at that time and I will be looking into this. "The man was released on conditional bail prohibiting him from entering certain parts of Street."
Reported by This is 1 day ago.