A man has appeared in court charged with attempting to abduct a three-year-old girl.
Richard Stacey, 37, entered no plea to the charge that he grabbed the child by the neck as she rode her tricycle while on a family outing in Wolverhampton.
The incident happened at 5.15pm last Thursday.
He is further charged with assault and affray against the youngster’s mother and aunt who were said to have intervened to stop alleged the abduction attempt.
Prosecutor Savithru Wijeratne told Walsall Magistrates Court on Monday: ‘The defendant approached a family in the street and removed a three-year-old girl from her trike by the neck and then turned to run off with her before her mother reacted.
‘He then reacted by kicking the mother and her sister who had run in to help.’
District Judge Wheeler remanded Stacey in custody, saying the charge were ‘extremely series’.
West Midlands Police released this photo, alleged to be Richard Stacey, after he attempted to grab a child by the neck as she rode her tricycle while on a family outing in Wolverhampton
The incident occurred shortly after 5pm on Thursday along Leicester Street in Wolverhampton
Stacey will next appear before Wolverhampton Crown Court for a pre-trial hearing on February 10.
A spokesman for West Midlands Police previously said the child was not injured during the incident and that the force was continuing to offer support to the youngster and her family.