A mother of a young child has been left hysterical after she claims a woman tried to steal her baby from her doorstep.
Sarah Hunt, 28, had just returned from a shopping trip with her eight-month-old daughter when she claims a woman knocked on her door and tried to snatch baby Amelie from her push chair.
Sarah managed to fight off the woman – whom she says during the ordeal was repeating the words “I need baby” – before then calling the police.
The young woman also revealed that a fight ensued as she tried to push her alleged attacker away.
Sarah tried to close the door on the woman's arm to get her to let go, but the woman – said to be in her 40s or 50s – blocked the door with her foot. Sarah also said that she punched her arm repeatedly to get her to let go of the pram.
Eventually, Sarah managed to slam the door shut – allowing her to flee with the pram into the kitchen, where she phoned fiancé, James Demorais.
Sarah described: "She said 'hi,' when I opened the door, and then kept trying to peer in and look around the flat. Her eyes kept going to Amelie.
"Then she made a move to grab the pram. She seemed determined to take her, but she was also strangely calm.
"I was shocked and really scared. I just kept repeated 'it's my baby, it's my baby'. I had no idea what would happen.
"I do not think it lasted more than two minutes from when I opened the door, but to me it seemed like it took forever to get the door shut."
Sarah, who works for a car manufacturer, lives in a flat in a gated community with 27-year-old James. As there is no way the woman would have been able to gain entry by herself, Sarah believes she was followed in by the woman who was intent on abducting Amelia.
She said: "I do not know whether she had been following me for a while but she definitely followed me into the building.
"I'm not even sure I would recognise her in the street now.
James, a customer care advisor, said: "I was at work when I got a phone call from Sarah.
"When I heard what had happened I left straight away. It was a case of dropping everything and racing home.
"Sarah was hysterical."
According to the couple, Sarah reported the incident to police shortly after 10.30am on Saturday. But incredibly Leicestershire Police did not visit the couple until Thursday evening, citing “operational demands”.
James said: "The police fobbed us off. They came last night and said they were sorry and that we have a right to be angry.
"We need to know what happened."
A police spokesperson said: "Leicestershire Police received a call from a member of the public reporting a woman had entered her address and asked her to hand over her child.
"The woman had since left the premises and no one was injured and the baby wasn't harmed.
"Due to operational demand and the allocation of resources to priority incidents, we were unable to attend on the day and speak to the victim, so arranged an appointment to go to see her.
"Unfortunately this appointment then had to be rescheduled due to operational commitments."
