Alleged kidnap pair faces trial

A MAN and woman charged with kidnapping a one-year-old boy have been committed to stand trial in Bundaberg District Court.

A MAN and woman charged with kidnapping a one-year-old boy have been committed to stand trial in Bundaberg District Court.

Adam Gordon Bryant and Kellie Janelle Twist, both of Gin Gin, faced Bundaberg Magistrates Court yesterday charged with one count each of child stealing.

Bryant, 21, and Twist, 42, are alleged to have taken the boy from his father’s care on July 7, 2009.

Arresting officer Detective Senior Constable Matthew Steinhardt said the child was taken from a North Bundaberg home by the pair, who were friends of the child’s separated parents.

The boy’s father told the court he, his girlfriend and his girlfriend’s mother had been outside their home when Twist and Bryant arrived about 2pm.

The man alleged that after having a “normal” conversation, Bryant, who was holding the child, walked to his car to get a cigarette.

Twist is then said to have asked if she could move the car into the driveway to allow more room for cars going down the street.

But the dad said once the pair got in the car, they drove away with his boy.

“They just took off with him,” the father told the court.

“I didn’t know what to think.”

After trying to contact Bryant, the father said he called the police, who later located the child at a Bruce Highway address outside of Gin Gin.

Det. Snr Const Steinhardt said the child’s mother was also at the Gin Gin property.

“A male occupant of the house said (Bryant and Twist) had left the address,” he said.

The child’s maternal grandmother said her daughter had previously spoken of kidnapping her son.

She said the child had been in the care of his father for about two weeks after the mother allegedly “took off”.

“She told me she would do anything she could to get him back, including kidnapping him,” the child’s grandmother said.

“She told me: ‘He is my child and I’ll get him back any way I have to.’ But I think the only reason she came back was to get the money from his (the child’s) Centrelink payments.”

The grandmother said she had been caring for the child for about eight months before the alleged offence, which happened five days shy of his first birthday.

Originally published as Alleged kidnap pair faces trial