Woman jailed for kidnap of baby girl

A WOMAN told her parents she would kill herself if they did not help her kidnap an 11-month-old baby girl, a court was told.

Jodie Little, 23, was yesterday jailed for 16 months for abducting the child from a social services centre.

Following a two-day manhunt which cost around £76,000, police tracked Little to a flat she rented under a false name. She was wearing a wig and holding the kidnapped baby in her arms.

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After failing to fool police with her disguise she picked up a knife and threatened to kill herself and the officers - forcing them out of the house in Huddersfield and into a two-hour negotiation.

Bradford Crown Court heard that her parents Keith, 54, and Jayne, 47, had driven the getaway rental car from the social services centre before telling lies to police to throw them off their daughter’s trail.

Jodie, of Dalton, Huddersfield had changed her name by deed poll to ‘Destiny Johnson’ two weeks before the kidnapping and enquired about passports and warm clothing.

Mitigating, Jayne Beckett said she had suffered a troubled life and had various personality disorder traits as a result.

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She added: “Jodie is adamant that her parents were brought into this matter by her. She told them that she would kill herself if they did not help her and they obviously took that threat very seriously given that Jodie’s older sister committed suicide in 2008.”

Sentencing her to 16 months imprisonment for kidnap and affray Judge John Potter said: “You put this child in real and immediate danger. Children have a right to be protected from harm and those that act in a way that could cause harm to children must expect an immediate custodial sentence.”

Both parents were sentenced to nine months imprisonment suspended for two years. Mr Little, now living in Middlesex, was ordered to complete 250 hours of unpaid work and Jayne Little, also of Dalton, was given supervision from the probation service.

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