Sarah Barlow prosecutes Primark kidnap case

July 19, 2016

In a case prosecuted by Sarah Barlow from Exchange Chambers, two girls who kidnapped a toddler from a Primark store have been detained for three years and three months.

Sentencing the pair, aged 13 and 14, the judge at Newcastle Crown Court referred to internet searches on a tablet belonging to the younger girl.  These related to topics including children having sex, rape and slavery.

Mr Justice Globe said although the child came to “no actual harm”, there had been intent, planning and enticement.

Just before the kidnap in April, the Tyneside teenagers had shoplifted dummies, baby milk and a bottle. They cannot be named because of their age.

Mr Justice Globe said the guidelines recommended a five-year sentence, but he deducted a third of this because the girls had pleaded guilty.

The initial sentences were three years and four months, but the judge later took off a month after hearing the teenagers had been subject to a curfew since their guilty plea in June.

He also refused to lift an anonymity order banning anyone from identifying them.

He said: “Anonymity is never an easy matter to resolve where there is an offence committed of public importance… Open justice is uppermost in my mind.”

However, after taking the age of the two defendants into account, he decided the ban must remain in place.