‘Harrowing’ attempted abduction of two-year-old girl at Turkish holiday resort

A couple have told of the “harrowing” attempted abduction of a two-year-old girl at the hotel where they were staying in Turkey.

Dubliners Elaine and Phil Brady said they had returned to the hotel in the early hours of 16 May with their children, aged 10 and 11, and began talking to two British couples in the outdoor bar.

But the pair said their late-night drink turned to horror when two “big, tall men” allegedly appeared out of nowhere and began attacking Mr Brady before attempting to snatch a child from one of the other families.

Speaking on RTE’s Liveline, Ms Brady said the incident began when the men “got down into her face” and shouted “shut the f*** up”.

She said she walked over to her husband, who then went up to the men and asked if there was a problem, but at that moment “everything changed”.

“The two men attacked Phil. It was absolutely horrendous, the children were screaming,” Ms Brady told RTE Lifeline.

“They basically grabbed Phil in an arm each and tackled him to the ground.”

The mother said the two men from the other families – Dean and Mike – rushed to help her husband but a third man appeared.

The man allegedly approached the two-year-old daughter of Dean Cremin and Sophie Dawes, threw a towel over her head, picked her up and tried to run off.

The couple, who were on holiday with little Evie and their two sons, aged five and eight, said a group of German tourists intervened and hid with the toddler in a bush until the incident was over.

Mr Cremin told RTE: “I didn’t know where she [Evie] was – I was screaming and shouting when I saw two German girls come out of a bush who had actually taken my daughter and hid her away from it all with my other son who is five.”

But the alleged incident didn’t stop there, as one of the men made another attempt to grab Evie as the family got into a lift.

“They tried to get her [Evie] again but obviously I was just holding my own. When the doors were closing, he tried to grab her leg,” said Mr Cremin.

“The only thing I can think of [why they focused on Evie] she’s a two-year-old with really long blonde hair and blue eyes.”

Ms Brady said she did not know why the men targeted them, but she now believes it was to “create a distraction so they could try to abduct one of the children”.

She added: “It was the most harrowing experience we have ever had”.

Ms Brady reportedly contacted the Irish Embassy in Turkey and was told the incident had not been reported by the hotel.

She said it was now being investigated by police in Ireland.

The hotel where the incident allegedly took place it understood to have dismissed the claims.