September 2023

Brave brother foils Aldi kidnap bid by hanging on to toddler’s legs as man grabs him

A young boy heroically stopped his brother from being kidnapped by a man in Aldi by clinging onto the toddler’s legs.

Lithuanian Sergejus Paskevicius, 61, of Orchard Street, Heywood has now been jailed for three years and two months after he attempted to abduct the three-year-old in front of his seven-year-old brother.

The boys had been waiting for their mum to pay at the branch in Heywood, Greater Manchester when Paskevicius crept over and approached them

A few seconds later, he picked up the three-year-old – but his brother tried to pull him out of the man’s arms and take him back to their mother.

Paskevicius then gave up on his attempt and walked out of the shop and tried to pretend that nothing had happened. But the whole frightening incident had been captured on CCTV, and Paskevicius was later identified after an appeal on social media.

The mother said her eldest boy has been left shaken by the incident and is now suffering from PTSD. “My son can’t go and do normal things like go to the park, to the circus, or to the shops,” she said.

Paskevicius was jailed when he appeared for sentence for child abduction on Friday at Minshull Street Crown Court.