Northern Ireland

Woman charged with child abduction following incident at west Belfast shopping centre

Arrest happened on Monday following incident at Park Centre

The incident happened at Park Centre in west Belfast. Picture from Google Maps
The incident happened at Park Centre in west Belfast. Picture from Google Maps

A woman who was arrested on suspicion of kidnapping following an incident at a shopping centre in west Belfast has been charged with child abduction.

The incident happened on Monday afternoon at the Park Centre in the Donegall Road area.

Police were called to the shopping centre shortly after 3pm following reports of an attempted abduction.

According to reports, the shopping centre was briefly locked down after the woman attempted to leave with a child before being stopped by security.

The PSNI confirmed that the woman had been arrested in connection with the incident.

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A PSNI spokesperson stated, “A 38-year-old woman has been charged with child abduction. She is due to appear before Belfast Magistrates’ Court today, Tuesday 21 May.”

The charge will be reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service, as is standard procedure.