March 2013 Man jailed for four years in Hull Fair child snatch case A man who tried to snatch a five-year-old boy from Hull Fair has been jailed for four and a half years. Daniel Banasik, 28, grabbed the child while the little boy was holding his mother’s hand. Banasik was seen to signal to a friend seconds before he tried to grab the child. Banasik was given the jail sentence at Hull Crown Court this morning after a jury took just 50 minutes to convict him of attempted child abduction. The honorary Recorder of Hull and the East Riding Judge Michael Mettyear said: “It is not possible to be sure what would have happened to the boy had the attempt to abduct him been successful but I’m sure that the intention was to do him serious harm in one way or another, at the least the permanent removal of him from his family.” Banasik had approached the boy from behind and scooped him up by placing his hands under his armpits, lifting him off the ground. The boy’s mum grabbed her son’s trousers and pulled him back, screaming at Banasik: “What are you doing?” Banasik then placed the boy back on the ground and quickly walked away. He was chased by the boy’s stepdad and at least eight members of the public, until the police caught him. The boy’s mum wept when the guilt verdict was delivered. “I’m just so pleased justice has been done,” she said. “He is in prison where he belongs – where he can’t hurt any children. “I hope he gets a long sentence. “I will never forget what he has put us through. I just wanted to scream at him in court but I stayed calm.” The mum added she will never feel able to take her son to a fair or theme park again because of the ordeal. Banasik was arrested at the junction of Anlaby Road, west Hull, moments after the attempted snatch on October 12. He was found with children’s toys in his bag. There were more toys at his home in Pendrill Street, west Hull. The court heard Banasik came to the UK from Poland seven years ago and had been working in a bakery until he was made redundant.