Two charged with abducting toddler Sophie Anderson

A 30-year-old woman and a 22-year-old man have been charged with child abduction. The charges relate to the abduction of Sophie Anderson, 17 months, from the Banbridge area earlier this week.

The accused – believed to be Sophie’s parents – are to appear at Armagh Magistrates Court later this morning.

Sophie was reported missing by the social services in Banbridge on Monday. She was found in a caravan park in the Dumfries area on Thursday.

Sophie had been with foster parents for more than a year, but had been in regular contact with her birth parents.

On the day Sophie disappeared, it was arranged that her mother would collect her from a social worker’s office and take her on an unsupervised visit to a mothers and toddlers’ group, where they could have contact in a more natural environment.

However, they did not turn up.