A mother has spoken of the moment a strange man tried to walk off with her autistic son outside a school in Thamesmead.

Samantha Turner, 23, was with her 2-year-old son, Tommy, near Jubilee Primary School in Crowden Way at around 9.30am on Monday (June 1).

The pair had just dropped off Tommy's older brother, Alfie, and were planning to get a bus home.

Ms Turner, from Abbey Wood, told the News Shopper: "I'd walked from the school but I had just missed the bus.

"My son has got autism so I didn't want to sit at the bus stop for long, so I walked back towards the school.

"I saw the man behind me. He was picking up cigarette butts. I thought he must be homeless or a tramp.

"All of a sudden my son wasn't there and the guy's got his hand.

"I said to him: 'what are you doing?'

"He said: 'He looked lost'.

"I said to him: 'What do you mean?'

"He said: 'His face looked lost'.

"I went forward and grabbed my son back, that's when he (the man) snapped at me.

"I told the man to f*** off out of the area.

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"I called him all the names under the sun. I called him a kiddie fiddler and a paedo.

"He just stood there smirking at me.

"He started walking off in front of us but he was walking very slowly."

Ms Turner added: "The reason I wanted to let the school know is because there are parents of children who go to school who should be aware of what happened.

"Some children travel on their own to school or with an older brother or sister and they shouldn't."

She said she was disappointed with the response of the police, who are not classing the incident as an attempted abduction.

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She said: "They said because he didn't run off with him it is not an attempted abduction.

"It doesn't matter he still took my son from my side.

"This is why these things happen - because police don't take these things seriously."

A police spokesman said: "Police conducted a local search but the man in question was not located.

"We do not believe this was an attempted abduction, however we understand that the community may be concerned by this allegation; we would remind the public to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activity to us."

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In a letter sent out to parents with children at the school, Jubilee Primary School head teacher Pam Davies said: "I consider it appropriate to make parents/carers aware of this, in order that we are all extra vigilant when travelling to and from school.

"It is recommended that all parents/carers remind their child of 'stranger danger' and how to keep themselves safe if they are out along."