Police in the UK have arrested a man for perverting the course of justice after he allegedly reported witnessing a small boy being taken against his will, sparking a huge manhunt.
The witness claimed he had seen an unidentified boy being pulled from a bicycle into a black van during rush hour in Redhill, Surrey.
While there are no reports of a missing child in the area, the man described the child as white, aged around six and about 4ft in height and dressed in a red t-shirt and blue jeans and said he was grabbed by an individual in a lack VW Transporter and that the child’s bicycle was left abandoned on the footpath.
After carrying out house-to-house enquiries and examining all CCTV footage and talking to commuters at the railway station, the police checked all potential vehicles matching the description and missing children databases, receiving more than 100 calls from members of the public in less than 24 hours.
A statement from Surrey Police explained that officers had no reason to disbelieve the account of the witness and had to act quickly in order to prevent what was suspected to be a risk to the life of a child.
Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Superintendent Pete Fulton, said:
“The risk to life and safeguarding children are our first priorities when presented with a report like this which is why we took the course of action we did. Time was of the essence which is why we asked for help from the public and media to find out what happened as soon as we could.
“Reports of this nature are extremely rare and we are the sure the public understand that when information such as this is received we treat it extremely seriously and must do all we can to find out investigate what’s happened.
“It is understandable this has caused a considerable amount of concern and confusion in the area which will last beyond just these few days.
“We will continue to work with the community and realise that this has been disruptive and had a large impact, however I hope that you are reassured that we take your safety extremely seriously.
“The witness has been re-interviewed at length about their account and at this stage and as a result of our enquiries no further information has come to light to corroborate the report.”
The man has been released on bail.
