Mad mother proven correct for once, admit Gardai

Two teenage girls had a lucky escape after fending off a potential kidnapper. On Thursday at around 7.20pm, on a tertiary road between Bray and Powerscourt in County Wicklow, a man tried to pull a thirteen year old girl off her bicycle and into a blue van.

One of the blue vans that was not at the scene on Thurday. Photo courtesy of Gerald Fischer-Bernsteiner

The girls were cycling to a house of a relative of the fourteen year old girl when the attempted attack took place.

“I’m going door to door, telling all the neighbours to be careful, that there is a predator on the prowl,” the mother of one of the girls said.

However, the same woman has been warning neighbours about predators of all sorts for years, having been diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1996. Police have been forced to admit that the psychologically unwell mother is now in fact correct.

The potential kidnapper grabbed the girl (13), pulling her from her bicycle by her Arran cardigan, and dragging her towards the van. The second girl stopped, got off her bicycle and both girls then fended off their attacker, who fled in a navy blue van with a registration plate that is believed to be of Wexford origin.

Another blue van car definitely not at the scene yesterday. Photo courtesy of Berresfords Motors.

The van is described by Sgt John Vickers of Bray Garda Station based on statements given to him as “kind of like a van but it’s totally a car really like.” He added that it is “kind of a bit sorta hatch backy, except with, like, sort of like a flat straight back, like, with two doors on the back?”

After the altercation, the man, described as “wearing a baseball cap with a funny design on it and he had, like, kind of fair skin, but you couldn’t see his colour hair” drove off in the direction of Pyjama Planet, a large retail outlet that sells night wear and bed related accessories.

The warehouse sized store is open Monday to Wednesday, 9am to 6pm, and Thursday and Friday, 9am to 9pm. It also opens on Saturday from midday until 4pm.

In the meantime, the teenage girls have now begun to quarrel with each other as to which of them is more attractive. They had always agreed that the 14 year old was better looking. However, given that the man could have easily chosen either of the girls, the attempted attack on the 13 year old has given her a little bit of a confidence boost.