A YOUNG girl was grabbed from behind as she walked home from a Hereford park just weeks after police said another attempt was made to abduct a child in the county.

Police are again investigating after 12-year-old Sasha Miles was pulled on the arm by an unknown person and dragged backwards as she walked along Whitecross Road.

Sasha fought back and ran away unharmed.

Her dad, Lee Miles, 37, said the incident left him feeling numb.

He said: “She was making her way home, talking to a friend on the phone and finished the call, putting her phone in her bag.

“She noticed a car pulling in in her peripheral vision.

As she walked past Bruce Thomas Close someone grabbed her arm. She said she was punching and slapping the hand and pushed them away.

“She doesn’t remember anything else – she went into blind panic mode.”

Sasha had been walking home, where she lives with her mum, from a park near Trinity Primary School when the incident happened between 6.20pm and 6.50pm last Wednesday.

She ran away and phoned her step dad, Ashley Good, before he contacted Mr Miles who immediately went to be with his daughter.

“She came towards me and I have never seen her crying and shaking so much in her life,” he added.

“You can imagine as a parent how horrific that must have been.”

Mr Miles, who lives in the Whitecross area with his wife, Michelle, added: “I did have a damn good cry.

It’s my eldest daughter, my first born, and it’s a worry to think something like that can happen on a busy road in broad daylight.

“It wasn’t until after the police had come round with Sasha’s mum and sister, when everyone had gone home, that it really started to affect me and I thought about what could have happened.

“It’s really distressing.”

The Hereford Times reported last month how police were investigating after a “stranger offering sweets” tried to tempt a young boy to a car near Ivington Primary School.

But they are not linking the abduction attempt in north Herefordshire on March 19 with what happened in Whitecross last Wednesday.

DC Ben Pearson said: “While we feel members of the community do not need to be concerned by this isolated instance at this stage, we are keen to identify the person involved as this has been a very distressing incident for the young girl and her family.”

Mr Miles, a teaching assistant at Blackmarston School, is urging parents to warn their children of the dangers of walking around while being potentially distracted.

“The main thing I would say is to put your phone away, don’t walk around with your face in your phone because you are not aware of your surroundings.

Just because it’s a nice sunny evening don’t think you can send children out on their own. In this day and age you don’t know what’s going to happen.

“I don’t want to scaremonger anyone because children have got to become independent and you have got to let them grow up but it is just a message to be aware.”

Police are asking for any witnesses or anyone who was in the area at the time to call 101 with incident number 559 of April 15.