A mum has opened up on her terror after a stranger grabbed her seven-year-old daughter by the face in a busy shopping centre.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, said it happened at a shop in Newtownards, Co Down.
"On Wednesday afternoon, I collected the kids from school and took them shopping," she told Belfast Live.
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"Everything was fine and I was queueing up so I had tucked the trolley into the left hand side, just to leave a bit of room for people.
"But the next thing, this man walked towards us and he just grabbed my daughter by the face, by the chin, with a slight pull to it.
"I just reacted like 'What?! Don't touch my child!'.
"He turned round with this big smile on his face and was shaking his hand like it was OK, walking towards me.
"I'm screaming at him to not touch my child and to stay away from me and at that point, some of the shop employees came to my aid."
The woman said others in the shop followed the man and security were called, with those staff then asking him to leave the shop.
Shop staff also phoned police who came to the store to speak to the woman.
"The staff themselves phoned 101 to report it for me because I was obviously in a state," she added.
"One of the girls who worked there had taken me and both my kids out the back to a more secure area so we could feel more relaxed and the police came to speak to me there.
"It all happened so quick, if I hadn't had my eyes on here, he could have just taken her.
"She was standing right beside me, it was such a shock – you hear about it, you read about it, but you never think it's going to happen to you, it can happen so quick.
"I do know that he has approached other kids before in the shopping centre and has touched them, so I don't know whether he likes younger kids or something.
"I don't know what his motive was for doing it, like why would you grab a seven-year-old child that you don't know by the face?"
The PSNI confirmed it had received a report about the incident.
"Police are investigating an incident during which a man touched a child on the face at the Circular Road area of Newtownards on Tuesday 27th June," a spokesperson said.
"Enquiries are continuing."
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