The mother who foiled a would-be abductor in Oxford reacted instinctively - yet with courage.
She faced every parent's nightmare when a woman snatched her three-year-old son from a swing and carried him through Cutteslowe Park gates.
The mother's reaction was commendable. She chased the woman and got the child back.
Unpraiseworthy was the reaction of police, who took 48 hours to confirm the crime - and even then, only after considerable pressure from the Oxford Mail.
Parents need to be told immediately that an abductor is on the loose, so that they can be on their guard.
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