A NEWPORT man was today cleared of allegations that he had tried to abduct a 12 year old girl.
A jury at Cardiff crown court found Alan Hemmings, 64, a married man of Watch House Parade, Pill, not guilty of a charge of attempted abduction.
Hemmings had told the jury he didn’t attempt to take the girl away and had absolutely no physical contact with her whatsoever.
He said that when the allegation was put to him by the police his response was to say: “Where the hell was I going to take her?”
Hemmings, who was said to be a man with no previous convictions, had denied allegations that he grabbed the girl by her wrists and held her for two minutes.
He said he always addressed children as “lassie or missie or pretty lady.”
He said that after the alleged incident three adults went to his home and one asked: “Have you been interfering with my daughter?”
He said: “I was quite shocked. I said ‘if you have any problems go to the police’ and off they went.’”
He added: “I didn’t have the faintest idea what they were talking about.”
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