Mother describes 'unbearable horror' as thief stole car with her 10-month-old baby in the back

Opportunist Joseph Swift jumped into the Nissan X-Trail while its engine was running on a driveway near Wakefield in December.

But the thief was startled when he got about five miles from the scene before noticing the child asleep in the back.

The 41-year-old panicked, turned the 4x4 around and started heading back towards the scene, before abandoning the vehicle and the child. Quickly recovered, the youngster, who had been missing for an hour, was unharmed and returned to her parents.

But a victim impact statement was read out at Leeds Crown Court by prosecutor Alisha Kaye, on behalf of the mother.

She said: “It’s caused her and her partner sleepless nights, they did not sleep for a week. It put a dampener on their Christmas celebrations. The baby was taken for an hour and it was unbearable.

"They were just so relived when their baby was returned.”

Miss Kaye said the family returned home from shopping shortly after 4pm on December 20 last year. With the baby asleep in the back of the car, the parents began unloading bags.

Swift took the opportunity while both parents were momentarily inside the house, getting behind the wheel and screeching away at speed.

Realising what had happened, the parents came running out with the dad chasing after the vehicle on foot.

With 999 called, the police scrambled was helicopter. A neighbour then drove the dad around the area in a frantic search for his baby.

Swift had got to the Portobello area of Wakefield when he spotted his sleeping passenger. He later abandoned the Nissan near an M1 junction. He was then caught on CCTV running away from the vehicle.

The baby had been left on her own for around 11 minutes before being discovered. The keys were also still in the ignition.

Swift was arrested the next day but denied he had even left his home on Teall Street in Ossett.

He was played CCTV from outside the victims’ home, which showed him walking past, then returning minutes later and getting in the car. He still denied it was him.

Appearing in court via video link from HMP Leeds, he admitted kidnap and taking a vehicle without the owner’s consent.

The court accepted his basis of plea – that he had no clue the baby was in the back. He has numerous convictions for vehicle thefts, and was out on licence at the time after receiving a jail sentence for causing ABH.

Mitigating, Robin Frieze said: “He does not underestimate the terror the parents will have gone through for that hour. He is a parent himself. He was on his way to the shops, he saw the car running and took it thinking he would go and see his girlfriend.”

The judge, Recorder Andrew Dallas told Swift: “It must have been a complete nightmare for the parents. If you had deliberately taken the child your sentence would be three times longer.”

He jailed him for 14 months, given a 13-month driving ban and a two-year restraining order to stay away from the family.