Not Suspicious

Woman feared to have been forced into car at Bournemouth railway station was not suspicious.

Detectives investigating a report that a woman appeared to be forced into a vehicle outside Bournemouth railway station are reassuring the public that the incident was not suspicious.

Following extensive enquiries, officers have concluded that the report from a man and a woman walking past the railway station at around 7.30pm on Thursday 14 January 2010 was a false alarm with good intent.

Detectives are thanking the public for their help – and thanking the media for their assistance in promoting a witness and information appeal.

A Dorset Police spokesman said: “This was a false alarm with good intent and we would like to thank the man and the woman for raising the alarm because they were understandably concerned about what they saw.

“Our detectives have made extensive enquiries in the vicinity of the railway station, the transport interchange and the Asda supermarket and they have concluded that there was nothing suspicious or sinister about what was seen.

“Our enquiries – including examining closed-circuit television footage – have concluded that the three people, a middle aged man and woman together with a younger woman, knew each other.

“We have established from witnesses that none of the three people looked distressed and they seemed comfortable in each other’s presence.

“We would like to thank local businesses and transport operators in the area of the railway station for their help in quickly providing closed-circuit television footage for our detectives to examine,” explained the Dorset Police spokesman.

The incident in which a man and a woman looked as though they were forcing a woman into a blue car happened outside Bournemouth’s railway station off Holdenhurst Road at around 7.30pm on Thursday 14 January 2010.

The dark blue saloon-type car was parked on double yellow lines by the taxi rank at the south side of the station building – opposite the Asda supermarket and the bus and coach transport interchange.

The alarm was raised by a man and a woman who were walking past the railway station when he saw a man and a woman of Asian appearance holding another woman by the arms and forcing her into the rear of the car. The second woman was also of Asian appearance.

A Dorset Police spokesman said: “Public safety is our prime concern and we were concerned for the safety and welfare of the woman seen being put into the car. It was important that we ensured that the woman was safe.”