A tearful mum has told a court of her horror when she feared her three-year-old son had been abducted.

The Canvey mother told a jury at Basildon Crown Court that she felt "numb inside, scared and frightened" when she turned around and saw her child's buggy had been taken.

She was speaking on the first day of the trial of Yue Ting Chan, 45, of Kenmore Close, Canvey, who denies taking the boy.

Answering questions from prosecuting solicitor Adam Budworth, the mum told how she was shopping in Woolworths on Canvey on April 10 1998 when the incident took place.

She said: "I turned to the right for about 25 or 30 seconds and when I looked back my buggy had gone with my baby in it. I felt numb inside and scared and frightened.

"I saw a man walking towards the door with my son in the buggy and I could see the back of his head. I could see the man's right hand on the buggy.

"I ran over and grabbed the buggy and said 'that's my son, you don't touch my son'.

"He let go of the buggy and just walked off - he didn't say sorry or why he did it, he just walked off without speaking.

"I just felt sick - I think I was in a state of shock."

The mum then went to the store manager and gave a description of the man before leaving the store and calling the police.

They toured Chinese restaurants on the island - and eventually arrested Chan after finding him at the Mayflower restaurant, which, like Woolworths, is in Furtherwick Road, Mr Budworth told Judge Peter Greenwood.

The trial continues

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