A woman has been remanded into custody accused of abducting a one-year-old boy at a west Belfast shopping centre.
Noeleen Creen of Bunbeg Park in the Lenadoon area of west Belfast, was arrested following the incident at the Park Centre on Monday.
Belfast Magistrates’ Court heard the 38-year-old carried the boy from a store inside the retail centre before his mother managed to grab him back.
“The defendant was stopped about five to 10 metres away by the child’s mother, who snatched her child away,” a police officer told the court.
Security staff were alerted and spotted the mother-of-four in a nearby seating area within the centre.
Based on CCTV footage, police also disclosed she approached and kissed the forehead of another child accompanied by its parents prior to the incident.
The court heard in subsequent interviews the accused, who denies the charge, provided a “disjointed” account of events.
She claimed to have drunk half a bottle of vodka, visited a friend in hospital and then attended the Park Centre.
Defence lawyers described it as a “very, very strange incident” all captured on 90 seconds of CCTV footage.
The lawyer told the court Ms Creen is a self-described alcoholic.
It was contended that the initial kiss on the forehead of the other child had been an “act of friendship” where no complaint was made by that family.
Bail was denied due to the risk of re-offending and Creen was remanded into custody until June 18.
