Carjackers fled with my children

A mother told today how she fought to save her two young children when they were seized in a vicious carjacking attack.

Dianne King, 39, watched helplessly as thieves stole her people carrier containing her 13-year-old son and daughter, four, on Brixton Hill.

She ran after the Nissan Prairie and, as it was forced to slow in traffic, managed to grab hold of the door handle. But the driver repeatedly opened and slammed the door in an attempt to shake her off.

Mrs King said: "All I kept thinking of were my children screaming and crying in the car. I just left the car for seconds and before I knew it the thieves had dived in."

Her son managed to get out of the car when the two suspects climbed in and tried to rescue his sister. But when he couldn't undo her seatbelt, he jumped back in - and the men drove off.

The carjackers struck after Mrs King had pulled over to drop a letter at a friend's house in Doverfield Road on Friday afternoon.

After delivering the letter she put the key in the ignition before leaving the car, worth £2,500, to put some rubbish into a bin. It was then that the carjackers took the seven-seater.

Mrs King, a social worker from Camberwell, said: " Suddenly my boy shouted 'Mum, they're taking the car'. I don't know where they came from. The next thing I knew a man was sitting in the driver's seat, while another had climbed into the back with my son.

"I ran after them, I lost my shoes and was running in my tights. I have never run so fast in all my life. The driver tore off at around 30mph and I was shouting 'My kids, I want my kids.' I caught up with the car and grabbed the handle of the driver's door.

"They only slowed down because of an on-coming Cherokee. I opened the door and pushed my knee in and tried to grab the man. My little girl was sobbing in the front seat 'mummy, mummy'."

The driver repeatedly pushed open the door with such force that it slammed Mrs King against the Cherokee, until she lost her grip.

"I was crushed and bruised but I didn't feel the pain," she said. "All I heard were the children crying and the car screeching off. I lay in the road crying, but then I saw the children at the top of the street running towards me shouting 'Mummy we got away, we got away.' I hugged them so hard."

She said of her son David, who had climbed over the seats to release his sister Evianne's seat belt before leaping out with her: "He was so brave he begged the thieves to let them go. One of them shouted 'Just go - now'. He has not spoken a word since."

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