‘Stalking’ victim terrified

A Clarecastle mother says she is on the verge of a breakdown after her 13-year-old son was subjected to three suspicious advances from a male “stalker” within the last month.

 

The boy has described the man as someone in his 20s or 30s, with brown hair, brown eyes, an Irish accent, stubble on his face and “dirty looking”. The man was driving a gold 2003 car with a Dublin registration

The first incident took place on Sunday, July 21, at 10.20pm, when the boy was returning home from a friend’s house. The most recent incident was on Sunday last at 8.30pm.
“I am terrified. My worry is this man is ‘stalking’ my son; is he watching him?” the mother of four said.

“It is going on a for a month. I have been looking for the car but can’t find it. My mind is working overtime. It is every mother’s worst nightmare,” she said.

The Clarecastle woman said the first time she “kind of brushed it off as some fella trying to act the idiot”.

After it happened a second and third time, the woman said, “I am ready for a nervous breakdown. It is so scary, I have it in my head all the time, is he watching my son?
“It is bordering on threatened abduction. I feel he (son) is being stalked. I am ready to crack. Do we have to wait until he grabs somebody? It is so scary,” she stated.

Her fears are exacerbated by the fact her son has another brother who looks very like him and is worried he also could also be subjected to an inappropriate approach.

On Monday night, the mother drove with her son to the spot where the man had approached him.
“We pulled over to where the man approached him and every car that came around the corner the child’s heart was hopping. I just had to leave. A lot of people are looking out for this man and his car,” she added.

She has issued a public appeal for people to be on the alert for a male acting suspiciously in the vicinity of young children. She also appealed to anyone who has any information about the whereabouts of this man to contact gardaí.
These three incidents are in addition to a suspicious approach to another 11-year-old boy in the Clarecastle area by what was believed to be an elderly man, who offered sweets to the child, during the same time period. In fact, the two boys are friends.

Clare gardaí are treating the four incidents very seriously and have also appealed for the public’s assistance in locating the individuals. Gardaí are continuing their extensive enquiries to see if there is any possible link between the three suspicious approaches and the one involving the 11-year-old boy.

A garda spokesman confirmed they would examine CCTV footage to see if there was any sighting of the man, who approached the 13-year-old. They have also offered support from one of their juvenile liaison officers to assist the boy.
The first incident involving this boy occurred when he was coming home from his friend’s house.

“The man got out of his car and said ‘hey’ but I didn’t look back. I ignored him. The man turned his car and came back up and tried to catch my attention again, as I was just turning into my own estate. The man then drove off.

“I never saw him in his life. I walked in home and didn’t tell my parents because I was too scared at the time.”

The boy explained that two people, one in his 20s or 30s, accompanied the driver but he didn’t get a proper look at the other one. He recalled the second incident happened on Tuesday, July 30 at 10.30pm when he was also walking back to his house.

He said the same man started to beep the horn in his car to get his attention. The only difference was this time the man was on his own and he was wearing a baseball cap. “The man beeped at me and said ‘hey’. He waited until I turned the corner. He turned around his car and approached me for a second time stopped me and said ‘do you want a lift’.

“I said nothing and walked off. The man drove off in his car in the direction of Shannon,” he said.

The boy said the last incident happened on Sunday last at 8.30pm, again when he was returning home.

“The man slowed down his car, started staring at me and started to get out of his car but my father came to tell me come back in home. The man drove off,” he said.

The boy, who is due to start in St Flannan’s College in a few weeks, would not go out for days, so his parents bought him a bike. He won’t go anywhere now without being accompanied.