A concerned Edinburgh mum and her frightened son have been left shaken after they alleged a man approached them on an Edinburgh rail bridge and tried to hold the boy's hand.
Rebecca King, 22, and her son Killian, three, had taken a trip to watch the trains go by on the bridge that connects Stenhouse and Carrick Knowe on Saturday 19 March at 12.30pm.
READ MORE - Edinburgh mum left shaken after 'strange man' tries to take her toddler's hand
But after spending around ten minutes on the bridge, they claim a man approached the pair and said “hello” before he tried to grab Killian’s hand - an act that made Rebecca fear her son was being abducted.
Killian was wary of the man, and intelligently retreated closer to his mum, who at this time was pulling her son as close to her as possible without trying to startle him further.
It is claimed that the man left his hand dangling, as if to invite Killian to grasp it again, and continued to try to talk about trains with the boy.
But as Rebecca tried to distance her child from the strange man, the male continued to try to speak to Killian from behind her back.
He then left the bridge and said bye to Killian whilst blowing kisses to the young boy.
The man was described as in his late 20’s to early 30’s with black short hair. He was understood to be wearing dark jeans, dark grey trainers, and a zip up with his t-shirt showing and is understood to be of South Asian descent.
On the incident, Rebecca said: “It’s things you read about on social media, and never think it will happen to you!
“Basically I took Killian to the park, then thought we’ll go see the trains as it was a five minute walk away.
“We were there for about ten to twenty minutes before it happened. The man came to the top of the bridge where the railings were and put away his phone into his pocket.
“I was crouched down on the ground with Killian looking for trains, and he approached stood next to me and said “hi” I obviously said “hi” back - you get a few passers that are friendly and I always say hi as they are walking by.
“But he stood beside and put his hand out and Killian took his hand. I was still crouched down and I grabbed Killian's other arm and Killian let go.
“He still had his hand out for Killian to take it then took a step back. He was making conversation with him about the trains then went behind my back.
“He was still speaking to Killian, but Killian ended up crouching down in front of me think he got a bit frightened, then the man said bye and was blowing kisses and walked away towards Carrick Knowe area.
“It was solely just us on the bridge, nobody else about and as a single parent you just kind of freeze in the moment, my first thought was to keep Killian's hand with my own so he didn’t run as he’s one of those kids that if you let go of his hand he can wonder.
“But being so young he doesn’t understand!
“To me it’s weird, people talk to Killian however nobody, not even in this day and age, would put their hand out and blow kisses.
“To me it’s creepy and weird behaviour. I think if Killian was any further from me then it could have ended a different way.”
Rebecca called the police immediately after the incident. It is believed that Police Scotland took a statement from the mother and informed her that they would be carrying out an extensive search of the area.
Police Scotland have been contacted for comment.
