Man tried to kidnap four-year-old girl on the street and punched her sister in the face

The schoolgirl desperately clung onto to her little sister by the head and shoulders as Jamie Gledhill tried to pull her away by her legs.

A court heard the 31-year-old had taken drugs at the time of the attack which happened on Pioneer Street, Thornhill, Dewsbury, on November 11 last year.

The teenager described to police after the incident the horror she felt at seeing Gledhill grab hold of her sister as she took her to some shops.

She said: “I let go of her hand for a second and looked the other way.

“I saw a man come from behind us and got my sister’s hand and said ‘it’s my kid’”

Gledhill tried to walk off with the child but the teenager grabbed hold of her sister by the head and shoulders.

Gledhill grabbed the child’s legs and punched the teenager when she screamed for help.

The incident ended when a member of the public stopped his car to help.

The defendant assaulted three police officers after he was arrested and taken to a police station.

He threw two punches at one policeman as DNA samples were being taken. One struck the officer a glancing blow.

He kicked another officer when he was being restrained and spat blood at a third officer.

Mark McKone, prosecuting, said the defendant was too angry to be interviewed about the incident.

Gledhill pleaded guilty to kidnap, common assault and three offences of assaulting an emergency worker.

He appeared before Leeds Crown Court via a video link from Armley jail.

Catherine Silverton, mitigating, said Gledhill was sorry for what he had done but had no recollection of committing the offences.

Dr Michael Smith gave evidence at the hearing and confirmed Gledhill had been diagnosed with a psychiatric disorder.

Dr Smith said Gledhill posed a risk in the community due to substance misuse and recommended that the defendant be made the subject of a hospital order

The court heard a bed was available for Gledhill at Stockton Hall secure hospital, near York.

Gledhill was made the subject of the hospital order "without limit of time" under the Mental Health Act.

Judge Mushtaq Khokhar told Gledhill: "It is necessary to protect the public from serious harm and it is not possible to say how long that will be."