Mum left ‘devastated and traumatised’ after watching ‘child-snatcher’ lead son, 4, away by the hand in public car park

A Polish man has been jailed for 40 months and faces deportation upon release after attempting to abduct a four-year-old boy in a West Lothian car park.

Andrzej Palosz, 48, claimed he wanted to see how the child’s mother would react to her son being taken by a “random stranger” after watching child-snatcher videos on YouTube.

The incident, which occurred in Bathgate on 7 May, left the mother “devastated and traumatised,” Livingston Sheriff Court heard.

Palosz, who moved to Scotland in 2016, will be deported to Poland after completing his sentence under Home Office regulations for non-British nationals who receive prison terms of 12 months or more.

The incident occurred around midday when the mother was collecting her two children from Bathgate Early Years Centre.

She witnessed Palosz speaking to her son before leading him away by the hand in a public car park at the junction of Menzies Road and Gardners Lane.

The mother immediately grabbed her son from Palosz’s grasp and attempted to secure both her children in their car seats.

Palosz then approached the vehicle and tried to pull the boy out, despite the mother managing to shut the car door.

He blocked her path when she tried to enter the vehicle herself, shouting: “Open the door.”

Fearing for her safety and that of her children, who were crying inside the car, the mother began recording the incident on her mobile phone.

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A witness intervened at this crucial moment, distracting Palosz long enough for the mother to get into her car and drive away.

The mother contacted police as she fled the scene, and officers later found her to be “extremely shaken and frightened” by the experience.

Police arrested Palosz around 3.40pm, finding him sitting on steps in the car park with a half-drunk bottle of whisky.

Defence lawyer Lesley Cunningham told the court Palosz had watched “staged abduction” videos on YouTube, where individuals attempt to take children from unsuspecting members of the public to observe their reactions.

“He tells me this was not an incident which was in any way premeditated,” Cunningham said.

“He tells me it was almost an opportunistic event in that he spotted the family and this idea came to him.”

The court heard Palosz was homeless before his arrest and had been sleeping at his workplace.

Cunningham added that Palosz wished to apologise to the family and “fully recognises the trauma that he will have caused everyone.”

Sheriff Susan Craig described the incident as “horrific” and said she had considered referring the case to the High Court for a longer sentence.

“The narration is horrific. This is not a situation where you take the child’s hand and let go,” she told Palosz at sentencing.

The court imposed a 40-month prison term, backdated to 5 May when Palosz was first remanded in custody.

A 12-month supervised release order was also issued to ensure monitoring by social workers to protect the public.

The victim impact statement revealed the mother is now fearful of going out, as Palosz was “a random stranger who had tried to take her child from her”.