What was claimed
There have been three recent incidents of attempted kidnapping of children in the Wishaw area of Lanarkshire.
Our verdict
Local police have investigated these reports and found “no criminality”.
Police find ‘no criminality’ after reports of ‘child snatching’ in Lanarkshire
20 March 2023
A post on Facebook, shared more than 2,000 times, claims that there have been three attempted incidents of “child snatching” in the Wishaw area of Lanarkshire.
The full post states: “3 attempts of child snatching in [the] past 3 days. 1st one cambusnethan 2nd one coltness 3rd one 2night newmians [sic].
“BLACK VAN AND SEVERAL PEOPLE ALL IN BLACK. do NOT let you little ones out alone. Please let's not only keep our own kids safe but be alert and keep a look out for all children.”
However, Police Scotland have since confirmed that officers have investigated these reports, across three different locations, and found “no criminality”.
In a statement published on Facebook, Lanarkshire Police Division local area commander Chief Inspector Baillie said: “We are aware of posts circulating on social media in relation to two separate incidents of youths being approached by men in black vehicles in the Wishaw area.
“A full investigation was carried in to [sic] both incidents and no criminality was established. Advice and guidance has been given to those involved on each occasion.”
Although the Facebook post refers to three incidents, the police statement adds: “No further reports have made [sic] to police about similar incidents in and around the Wishaw area.”
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Image courtesy of Richard Bell |
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as partly false because police have investigated and found no evidence of criminal activity.