Caught in the act: CCTV captures chilling moment man attempts to steal boy away from his mother (See Photos)

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Caught in the act: CCTV captures chilling moment man attempts to steal boy away from his mother (See Photos)

May 9, 2014 |

May 9, 2014

by Zara Mustapha

A CCTV footage in a shopping centre showed shocking images of a man leading a toddler away from its mother in the busy mall.

The young family can be seen in the footage walking through the shopping centre in Derby, East Midlands.

At one point, the yet-to-be identified mother walks very slightly ahead of her child.

The man then approaches the 22-month-old as he follows his mother into a store in the city’s Intu shopping centre.

Daily Mail reports:

He walks up to the child and speaks to him before seemingly taking him by the hand and walking off.

However, the boy’s mother turns and sees the unidentified man with her child.

She then challenges the man – who seems to apologise and walk away.

Attempts are now being made by MailOnline to contact the mother following the incident, which took place on Thursday at 10.30am.

‘We received a large number of calls on the back of the appeal and I would like to thank members of the public for their response.

‘It was a highly unusual incident and we will be continuing our inquiries into it today.’

Derbyshire Police revealed an 80-year-old man had come forward following the police appeal.

The pensioner contacted officers after the CCTV footage was released and was being quizzed by detectives yesterday morning.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Lamb added: ‘It appears that the man shown in the CCTV footage may have been acting with good intentions but we will be speaking to him today to ascertain the full details.