A woman called the police after a man allegedly tried to pry open her car door in Bermondsey this week, with her young daughter inside.
The man was was found nearly an hour and a half after the alarming incident, which took place near Greggs on the Ilderton Road, close to South Bermondsey station on Monday (September 6). Officers said he was being looked after by medical professionals and the incident is not being treated as an attempted abduction.
A spokesperson for the Met said: “Police were called at approximately 15:20hrs on Monday, 6 September by the driver of a car who reported that a man had tried to open the doors to her vehicle in Ilderton Road, SE16.
“She stated she believed the man may be having a mental health episode. Officers attended but the man had left the scene.
“He was located at approximately 16:40hrs in the Old Kent Road area and passed into the care of medical professionals.
“This incident is not being treated as an attempted abduction.”
The alarming and sad episode comes after a Bermondsey woman came up with the idea of encouraging businesses to advertise their premises as a ‘place of safety’ in May after several reports of missing children, attempted abductions, and the ongoing dangers posed by gangs.
Some of these reports related to alleged incidents in Peckham, but the police played down concerns at the time.
A Met spokesperson told us: “We are aware of significant concerns raised on social media around rumoured child abductions in Peckham, which speculate that males in white van have approached children intending to abduct them. We have received no such reports at this time.
“Police fully understand the concerns from parents and residents in Southwark and would like to reassure the community that all reports of this nature are taken very seriously indeed. Fortunately, incidents of child abduction are very rare, and we can confirm that no reports relating to child abductions have been received.
“We respectfully ask the community to refrain from engaging in speculation that can unnecessarily increase the fear of crime and cause great upset amongst our communities, and, in the event of an incident concerning public safety, please contact police immediately by dialling 999 in an emergency or 101 in a non-emergency situation.
“To provide information about crime without giving your name please call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers_uk.org.”