A man has been jailed for child abduction after taking a two year-old boy in a toilet cubicle at a fast-food restaurant in north London.

lulian-Alexandru Badaric, 36 [07.07.81] a Romanian national of no fixed abode was found guilty on Tuesday, 17 October at Blackfriars Crown of child abduction. He was found not guilty of sexual assault on a child.

On Wednesday, 18 October, he was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment.

The court heard that on Wednesday, 10 May the boy had been in a McDonalds restaurant in Camden High Street with his mother.

He was playing on the staircase in the restaurant with his mother a short distance away. His mother then noticed that he was no longer there.

She began to search for him, with a female member of staff coming to her aid. The member of staff checked the mens’ toilets and saw that a door to a cubicle was closed but not locked.

She saw the child and when she pushed the door open, he was with a man. The alarm was immediately raised and police were called.

Officers attended and Badaric was arrested on suspicion of child abduction and sexual assault on a child.

CCTV footage was obtained and reviewed by detectives which showed the suspect, identified as Badaric upon arrest, entering the restaurant at 11.51 hours. He did not purchase any food, but stood in a corner of the restaurant by the tills.

He saw the victim playing on the staircase, approached him and walked upstairs with him.

CCTV showed Badaric and the victim go into the corridor area which led to the toilets.

Badaric was charged on Thursday, 11 May.

DC Emma Jones from Central North Basic Command Unit Safeguarding Investigations team said: “The mother of the victim believed her son was safe, and she was not to know that Badaric would lure her child away from her.

“Incidents like this are rare but we understand how alarming this can be to parents. Thankfully Badaric is now behind bars and at the end of his sentence will be deported back to his home country.”