Appeal for witnesses following a suspicious incident in Potters Bar park

Officers are appealing for information and witnesses following a suspicious incident in a Potters Bar park.

It happened in Oakmere Park, off Highview Gardens, between 11.50am and 12.20pm on Monday 9 October.

A young girl was in the playground area with her mother when she attempted to climb the ladder on the slide.

A man then approached the girl and placed his hands on either side of her torso, before her mother quickly intervened and removed the child from the situation.

The man has been described as aged in his 40s, wearing navy tracksuit bottoms with a hoody tied around his waist, and socks with sliders on his feet. 

The suspect proceeded to loiter nearby while on his phone, before the victim and her mother left the park shortly after. The child suffered no physical injuries during the incident.

Inspector Rachael Robertson, who leads the Hertsmere Safer Neighbourhood Team, said: “This was an unsettling incident for the victim and her mother, and has left them feeling understandably shaken. I want to reassure the community that we are doing all we can to trace this man, and to understand what his intentions were.

“The incident happened at a time when there were likely to be other people in the park, so we are appealing to anyone who thinks they may have seen this man or witnessed what happened to please come forward and speak to us as soon as possible, quoting crime reference 41/81092/23.

“In the meantime, we have increased our patrols of the park so the community will see an increased police presence in the area.”

If you have information to share with police you can email PC Harknett, who is investigating, at [email protected], report it online at herts.police.uk/report, use online web chat at herts.police.uk/contact or call the non-emergency number 101.

Alternatively, you can stay 100% anonymous by contacting the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or via their untraceable online form at crimestoppers-uk.org.

You can use our community voice platform ‘echo’ to let us know what you think we should be prioritising in your area. Your anonymous feedback will help towards shaping our local policing priorities, initiatives, and campaigns. Visit bit.ly/police-herts and tell us what you think.