Man held over alleged Derry kidnap

A man was arrested last night over allegations a teenage girl had been kidnapped in Co Derry.

A man was arrested last night over allegations a teenage girl had been kidnapped in Co Derry.

Police said the 39-year-old was being questioned about the incident which was reported to them to have taken place in Dungiven on Monday.

It is understood a 14-year-old girl claims to have been bundled into the boot of a car by a man as she was walking along Glenshane Road in town.

It was believed the girl was driven to an isolated area of the town where she managed to escape and flee across nearby fields and raise the alarm.

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While police were making no comment on the allegations, the girl is said to have used her mobile phone to contact a member of her family and to have been interviewed later at a special victims unit in Derry later in the day.

Local councillor Michael Coyle, chairman of the Limavady District Policing Partnership which covers the Dungiven area - and who lives near where the abduction is alleged to have taken placed - said: “The community is deeply shocked over the whole thing.

“We are lucky that the young girl had a mobile phone and had the presence of mind to ring somebody.”

PA