A man has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison for abducting a child.

Gavin Sykes, 42, was sentenced today at Leeds Crown Court after pleading guilty to abducting a young old girl from the Woodlands Avenue area in Holmfirth, near Huddersfield, in June 2019.

He was also sentenced after being found guilty of two counts of sexual assault and committing an offence with intent to commit a sexual offence.

Police received a report at 7.47pm on June 20 reporting the potential abduction and immediately deployed to the Holmfirth area.

The suspect Toyota Celia car was located 15 minutes later and stopped.

The victim was rescued by officers and Sykes was detained at the scene and arrested.

The 42-year-old, from Holmfirth, was swiftly charged and appeared before magistrates two days later.

Police Constable Danni Nugent of the Kirklees District Safeguarding Unit, said: “Sykes is clearly an extremely dangerous individual and we are pleased to see him receive a lengthy custodial sentence for what was a dreadful offence.

“He lured his young victim into his vehicle and it is fortunate the act was witnessed and quickly reported, prompting an immediate police response.

“We strongly believe the victim would have come to further harm had on duty officers not been able to deploy so rapidly and locate his car when they did.”

She added: “This incident has clearly been very harrowing for the victim and her family and we hope that seeing this man jailed will be of some measure of comfort for them.”