Women admit taking boy, 10

TWO women took a boy without his mother’s permission — leaving her to frantically search for him.

Zoe Anne Maguire (21), of Furness Avenue, Alt, and Ellen Heap (19), of Shepley Street, Failsworth, pleaded guilty to a charge of taking a child and keeping him from his parent at Oldham Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

The pair also admitted resisting a policeman on duty.

The court heard how the child, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had formed a relationship with Maguire over the past year.

Julie Spaven, prosecuting, said that when the boy’s mother found out Maguire had given her 11-year-old son alcohol and a cigarette, she told her to stay away from him.

But on Monday evening the boy ran away from home, which led to a police search.

Officers located him in Shepley Street, where a security guard said a young boy in school uniform had been seen going into a flat.

The guard used a master key to get into the flat where the defendants were found drunk and on the bed — with small feet visible under the covers between them.

After a tussle with a police officer, both women were arrested and the youngster was returned home.

In interview, Heap said she knew how old the child was and that she would have let him stay the night and taken him back the next morning. She also said the drugs she had taken had made her “chill out”.

The boy’s mother said she wasn’t happy with her son going off with the women who would “lead him into all sorts of trouble”.

Ian Owens, defending, said there had been a “fairly manky situation” in the flat.

He said: “There is no suggestion of any ‘taking’ of the child — this was a precocious 11-year-old with a degree of idolisation. The boy wanted to be there. There was certainly no ill-will intended towards him.”

He added that the women did not have a working mobile so the mother could be contacted.

Both women have been bailed with curfews and must have no contact with the boy. Their next hearing is in August, when magistrates will consider a custodial sentence.