A MAN took a five-year-old girl by the hand in a shopping centre and walked towards a shop door with her, a court heard yesterday.

The girl, now six, claimed the man she didn’t know took told of her as she stood beside her mum and lead her towards the doorway of River Island in Braehead Shopping Centre.

She said her mum yelled at him and that she ran back to her at at that point.

A recording of an interview between the youngster and police, days after the alleged incident in July last year, was played to the court and the child.

The girl was giving evidence at the trial of Mohammed Hussain, 58, and Joanne Hussain, 54, who are charged with stealing the child on July 10, 2015.

They also face an alternative charge of taking hold of her hand and leading her away from her mum without her knowledge or consent and detaining her against her will.

During the interview with the police last year, the child - who cannot be identified - told officers that a man had taken her hand while she was out shopping with her mum.

Telling the officers what happened she said she was “right beside” her mum adding: “He got my hand and was taking me to the door with my hand.”

The girl was asked if the man said anything to her and replied: “He only said stuff to my mum like I took his hand but then she asked me if I took his hand then I said ‘no’.”

During cross-examination by defence counsel Louise Arrol, for Mohammed Hussain, the child denied she had taken his hand.

Miss Arrol put to the little girl that she took the man’s hand but she said “no” and said that she was telling the truth.

Procurator fiscal depute John Miller asked the child: “When the man took your hand did you think it was your mum’s hand at first?”

She replied: “Yes.”

The youngster’s 26-year-old mum told the court of the moment she saw her child hand in hand with a stranger in a shopping centre.

The 26-year-old mum-of-two said: “This man took my daughter’s hand and tried to lead her out the shop.”

She identified Hussain in court as the man she saw with her daughter’s hand although said she didn’t see him take her hand, but noticed that he had it.

Mr Miller asked: “You’re quite sure he was holding her hand then?” and she said: “100 percent.”

The woman said that she saw Joanne Hussain for the first time as she approached her and said “Are you trying to say he was taking your daughter?”

The jury was told the pair left together and that a short time later the mum and daughter left the shopping centre and returned home before contacting the police.

During cross-examination by Miss Arrol CCTV from the night of the alleged incident showed the mum and daughter going into River Island at 8pm and less than a minute later the male and female enter the shop and at 8.04pm they leave again.

Both accused deny the charges and the trial before sheriff John McCormick continues.