<p>
	A young boy was allegedly approached by a motorist and twice offered sweets to get into the man&#39;s car.</p>
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	Neighbours in Applewood, Swords, have been urged to remain vigilant after the nine-year-old claimed he was approached at the kerbside.</p>
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	A garda spokesman told the Herald that an investigation has been launched into the incident, which happened at around 7.30pm last Sunday.</p>
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	The boy was smart enough not to get into the car when the man drove alongside him.</p>
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	He claimed he was first approached and offered sweets in the estate when the driver pulled up beside him, but he walked away in the direction of a group of adults.</p>
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	However, he said he was approached a short time later and immediately ran to a friend&#39;s house in the estate to raise the alarm.</p>
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	His friend&#39;s mother contacted gardai after she managed to catch the driver&#39;s registration plate, which was foreign.</p>
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	Gardai said no arrests have been made, and that officers are working to establish if the incident was a genuine abduction attempt or if there is an innocent explanation.</p>
<p>
	They have decided against releasing a description of the car or its registration plate for the time being.</p>
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	The last time there was a major child abduction scare in Swords was in April 2011, when four alleged attempts were reported in one week.</p>
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	The cases all involved inappropriate approaches towards children being made by men.</p>
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	grab</p>
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	In one incident, a man blocked a footpath with his car and tried to grab young girls in the Swords Manor area.</p>
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	Three similar incidents were reported in the River Valley area around that time.</p>
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	Officers investigating the incidents made no arrests, and reports of alleged abduction attempts eased off.</p>
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	However, there was one further alleged attempt in May that year.</p>
<p>
	Again there were no arrests.</p>
<p>
	<a href="http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/garda-probe-after-boy-9-is-offered-sweets-to-get-into-strangers-car-30614468.html">http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/garda-probe-after-boy-9-is-offered-sweets-to-get-into-strangers-car-30614468.html</a></p>
