‘Talk to your children about how to stay safe’

Susan Logan, whose nine-year-old son, David, was approached by a man as he walked home from a youth club on October 2, echoed the plea made in last week’s Times by Whiteabbey woman Leigh Potter, whose son was the victim of a similar suspicious approach by a man just yards from his Fernagh Road home the previous evening.

“David doesn’t usually go to the youth club, but he decided he was going to go along with a friend that night,” Mrs Logan explained.

“He decided to walk home on his own, which I wouldn’t have let him do if I’d known, and he was at the end of the street when a man pulled up in a dark coloured car and asked him if he wanted to go bowling and then for ice cream after.

“I’ve always drummed it into my children about stranger danger, so thankfully he had the good sense to run.”

Mrs Logan said her son has been left “petrified” by the experience.

“I have always talked to my kids about stranger danger before, and with all the April Jones stuff on the TV I had been talking to them about it even more,” the mother-of-four continued.

“Parents should talk to their kids and make sure they are aware that this is happening. Don’t put the fear of God into them, but just talk to them about what the dangers are and how to stay safe.”

Mrs Logan urged parents to take a “balanced view” of the recent incidents, saying that children need to be allowed to live their lives, while still being mindful of the potential dangers that exist.