Scots mum tells of Bulger fears after boys take her toddler son from garden

Aug 31 2008 By Russell Findlay

A MUM spoke of her terror yesterday after two schoolboys took her toddler son from a garden.

The disappearance of little James McNeill, three, sparked a massive police hunt after he was taken by the boys, aged 11 and 12.

Scores of officers joined the search but his distraught mum Kelly's first thought was of Jamie Bulger's murder. She said: "When we realised James had gone, I thought about what had happend to James Bulger. The similarities are chilling.

"James has the same name, he's almost the same age and he was taken by boys of the same age."

Police used a helicopter and sniffer dogs to search the neighbourhood after the alarm was raised. James was unharmed when he was found.

James was with his sisters Chantelle, nine, and Billie, seven, in their gran's back garden in Drumchapel, Glasgow, when he vanished.

Now police and child protection experts are carrying out an investigation after James was reunited with his mum.

Detectives have examined CCTV footage from a nearby petrol station but are still in the dark about a 45-minute gap in James's journey.

They have quizzed the two boys and believe the younger one eventually persuaded the other to hand James in to police.

Officers have warned in internal memos about similarities to the case in which murdered two-year-old James Bulger was taken from a Liverpool shopping centre by two 10-year-olds.

Robert Thompson and Jon Venables killed James and left his mutilated body on a railway line. They were freed from jail in 2001 and have new identities.

But Strathclyde Police do not believe either of the two boys found with James had sinister intentions.

When James was taken, mum-of-four Kelly was inside looking after three-month-old daughter Chloe.

Kelly, 25, of Knightswood, Glasgow, said: "The girls turned their backs for a few minutes then Chantelle realised James was gone.

"It's a safe garden with a fence and I never thought anything like this would happen.

"All the neighbours were out on foot and in cars searching for James. One wee girl told us early on that she saw him walking down the street hand-in-hand with an older boy.

"I was taken around the area in a police car to look. I was a wreck with worry."

Officers swarmed around the area during the massive hunt.

Tearful James was found with the two boys by British Transport Police 90 minutes later at Drumry train station. The 11-year-old at first refused to give his name.

Police are examining claims that one of the boys took James on a train at Drumchapel train station, a short walk from the house, before getting off the train after one stop on Tuesday.

The Jet service station where he was caught on CCTV is a half-mile from Drumry station.

Kelly said: "There is a missing period of 45 minutes where it's unclear where James was taken.

"It seems the 12-year-old realised that his friend should not have James.

"I was in the police car when the call went over the radio that James was alive and well. I broke down and cried with relief.

"I just ran up and grabbed him. He'd been crying because his eyes were bright red."

"It was around 6.30pm and he had been missing for almost an hour-and-a-half. The police are not sure what happened. The boy has told them that he found James at Drumry station, which is ridiculous.

"The police are also now suggesting that the boy may have found James in a lane near the garden.

"But that can't be right either because of the girl who saw the pair of them together on the street.

"I am so relieved that he is OK but I want to know what is going to happen to this boy and where James was during the missing 45 minutes."

A neighbour said: "Loads of children play around this street and it is a real worry because we don't know if this boy had some sinister motive.

"None of the kids round here knows who he is. Everyone is talking about the similarities to the James Bulger case."

Strathclyde Police said: "A full inquiry has been conducted into the incident and as a result no criminality has been established."

A police insider said last night: "It's not thought either boy intended to harm James but it was still distressing for him and his family.

"There are interviews and further investigations to be done."