Stranger danger warning: two girls followed near school

Narre Warren police are investigating.

By Mitchell Clarke

Two girls have been left shaken after they were allegedly stalked by a man in a car on two separate occasions near a Berwick primary school.

The confronting incidents occurred on Monday 26 October as the girls walked down Skyline Way and Meadowlands Way, near Berwick Chase Primary School.

The first incident happened between 8.10 and 8.30am when a year five girl was followed on her way to school.

The young girl recalled a silver car, which was reportedly driven by a man with dark curly hair, pull up next to her facing oncoming traffic.

The car also had a person, believed to be older than a school aged student, sitting in the back seat.

“She noticed the car because it slowed down as it went past her, and then it did a U-turn and slowly passed again before doing another U-turn,” her mother recalled.

“She started walking faster and the car drove slowly past her again before it parked in front of her on the wrong side of the road. She then ran until she could see the crossing guard.”

The mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, said her daughter was “just petrified” after the incident.

“My daughter first thought it was just a parent not knowing where to drop their kid, but the person in the back seat looked too old and then she thought it could’ve been a delivery driver. But it just didn’t feel right to her. She had that gut feeling that something was wrong,” she explained.

“When she first got home from school, she completely broke down, she was just so fearful that she thought that she just lost us all.

“She’s constantly checking the windows and won’t go to sleep unless I’m with her. I don’t want any other child to have the fear in the eyes that my daughter had.”

The incident was reported to the school who notified the Education Department and Victoria Police.

A police spokesman confirmed Narre Warren police were investigating.

Berwick Chase Primary School principal Chris Short said the safety and wellbeing of students was “top priority”.

“Our school makes every effort to support the safety of all students, including when travelling to and from school,” he said.

“Information has been provided to our school community to assist them to exercise caution when travelling to and from school.

“We regularly talk to our students about being safe in public and we advise parents to discuss it with children too.”

Meanwhile, a year 10 student was walking home from St Francis Xavier College on the same street later that day when she experienced an almost identical experience.

Her mother, who also wished to remain anonymous, told the Gazette that a car matching the same description was seen in the area.

“Their stories are almost identical. She was followed very slowly and closely, which got her attention,” she explained

“That’s when she thought ’s*** I’m going to get abducted’. She’s a bit shaken and a little concerned.”

The girls weren’t able to identify the make or model of the car but said it had no distinguishing features.

The driver has been described as Caucasian with dark curly hair.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.