Horrified mum catches drunk workman trying to abduct her son, 4, in Aldi car park

The horrified woman grabbed her child from Andrzej Palosz as he tried to lead the child away, after taking him by the hand in the terrifying incident, and she tried to get him to safety - but Palosz followed

A mum had a nightmare encounter in a supermarket car park when a drunken workman tried to abduct her four-year-old.

Andrzej Palosz tried to lead the child away from his mother after taking him by the hand in the terrifying incident. The shocked mum grabbed her child back from him and put the boy in the front passenger seat of her car, but Palosz wasn’t finished.

He followed her back to the vehicle and seized the youngster by the arms, trying to pull him out of the vehicle, a court was told. The mum, who was furious at this point, filmed the drunken worker on her phone - a move which he did not object to, Livingston Sheriff Court heard.

She later uploaded the footage to social media to try and identify him, the Daily Record reports. The clip shows Palosz dressed in dirty work clothes, had a cigarette hanging out of his mouth and appeared to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

The video footage was eventually passed to police who traced Palosz and charged him with the serious crime. Palosz, 48, appeared on petition shortly afterwards and was remanded in custody pending resolution of a plea.

The accused, who is currently an inmate at HMP Addiewell, West Lothian, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to approaching the boy and attempting to abduct him. The plea, by way of a Section 76 indictment, was agreed in advance following discussions between his lawyer Lindsey Cunningham and the Crown Office.

He admitted committing the offence in an Aldi supermarket car park at the junction of Menzies Road and Gardners Lane, in Bathgate, West Lothian, on May 7 this year. Depute fiscal Neil Martin, prosecuting, formally moved for sentence and informed the court that Palosz had no previous convictions.

Miss Cunningham said she was making no application for bail in the meantime. Sheriff Martin Edington told Palosz through an interpreter that, given the nature of his conviction, background reports would be required before sentencing.

He called for community payback order reports to include recommendations for supervision and unpaid hours of work. He also ordered an assessment of the accused’s suitability for electronic monitoring under a restriction of liberty order.

The sheriff adjourned the case until December 12 and told Palosz he would remain in custody until then.