A stranger picked up a 10-year-old girl as she was playing with friends and began carrying her towards his car, a jury heard.
She kicked out and he dropped her and the girl was able to run away.
Steven James Hickling, 39, of no fixed address but formerly living in Prestatyn , denies a charge of attempted kidnap and is standing trial at Caernarfon Crown Court.
The jury heard the incident is alleged to have occurred on May 27 this year.
Elen Owen, outlining the prosecution case, said the girl was playing with some other children in a play area in Deiniolen near Caernarfon.
“The children were playing on a grassy embankment in the play area. They were using a board as a makeshift slide.
“As they were playing the defendant approached them and interacted with them for a while before they moved away to a paved area where some boys were playing football.
“The defendant is said to have followed them to this area in his car and parked adjacent to it. He left the keys in the ignition and the drivers door open and went to play with them.
“At one point he asked them to help him find his e-cigarette.
'All part of a game'
"He also started squirting water at them from a bottle he was carrying.
“He also asked the girl to try and steal his car. The prosecution says that was a ploy to get her to his car.
“While the children’s accounts vary a little they all explain how he lifted her up off the ground and moved deliberately towards the car.”
Ms Owen told the jury the girl was very frightened and kicked out causing the defendant to cry out and drop her.
Some adults challenged Hickling about what had happened and after claiming he was a coach he drove off.
The girl, in a video interview, told officers she did not know the man.
Another child told the jury the girl was only carried "a few steps" before he dropped her.
Some adults were alerted and challenged Hickling about why he was playing with children.
The girl added Hickling had told them he was a football coach and wanted to teach them skills.
Asked to produce a buisness card the girl said he had "turned red" and got into his car and drove off.
She added the girl was crying after the incident.
One of the children had taken a photograph of Hickling’s car and police arrested him in Prestatyn.
Interviewed he told officers he was separated from his partner and had been staying at a caravan park in the Deiniolen area.
He had intended to return to Prestatyn to meet a friend but had followed a camper van into Deiniolen. Hickling told officers he had never been to the village before the court heard.
“He told officers picking up the girl was all part of a game and it was his momentum that had taken him towards the car. He denies it was a deliberate action on his part,” the lawyer said.
The trial continues.
see-http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/man-accused-attempted-kidnap-girl-11917564
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