Zim asylum seeker gets 3 years for kidnap bid

Zim asylum seeker gets 3 years for kidnap bid

CARDIFF Crown Court

• Zondo: 'I was being friendly'

• Zondo 'tried to snatch toddler'

• Zim asylum seeker denies kidnap

• Zim man held in UK over kidnap bid

• Zim man charged with HIV crimes in NZ

• Zim doctor accused of sexual assault

By Staff Reporter

MTHOKOZISI Zondo, a Zimbabwean asylum seeker convicted of trying to kidnap a toddler in a busy shopping mall in Cardiff, Wales, has been slapped with a three year jail term.

A jury of six men and six women on Friday found Zondo, 28, guilty of attempting to kidnap the two-year-old girl in an Argos Store last February.

He protested his innocence throughout the trial, claiming he was just being friendly.

Zondo whose asylum claim had failed will be deported soon after serving his sentence.

On Monday, the mother who stopped her young daughter being kidnapped says she is slowly leaning to trust people again.

The woman, who is in her 20s but cannot be identified by an order of the court, said the experience has left her paranoid and admitted she feels nervous when anyone goes near her child.

"She started nursery just before it happened and afterwards it was really difficult to leave her and at first I told the staff nobody else should pick her up," said the mother, who lives on the outskirts of Cardiff.

"The nursery have been good though and the teachers have been great and I am becoming more trusting."

Although the traumatic incident has made her more reluctant to go out with her daughter, she said they had returned to the store where it all happened.

The mother said: "We went to Argos the other day and she said "this is the shop with the strangers" "I was shocked"

During the court case she said she tried to think of Zondo as innocent but her memories, coupled with damning CCTV footage, meant she was satisfied with the jury's guilty verdict.

"I tried to see it from his point of view but you do not hold anyone else's child for even half a second, let alone nine," she said.

And with the court case over she is looking to put the past firmly behind her together with her long-term partner.

"We're just glad it's over," she said.

During the trial, Zondo said he had not intended to abduct the child and was being friendly with her in line with what he claimed were African customs.

He told the court on Wednesday: "I was heading towards the exit when I walked past her.

"I just bent down and said 'hello, hello, hello' and I shook her hand.

"I was just being friendly - God is my witness."

He said it was characteristic of Africans to be friendly to children, adding: "Whenever I hear anything about child abuse it hurts me because I have a son of my own."
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