AN ISLE of Wight woman who flouted a child abduction warning notice and was caught with a young girl hiding in her kitchen has been sentenced.

Ruby Owen, of Fitzroy Street, Sandown, appeared before Isle of Wight magistrates on Tuesday (December 20).

At a previous hearing, the 26-year-old admitted four counts of detaining a child, so as to keep her from a person having lawful control, between October 24 and November 15.

Prosecutor, Ann Smout, told the court Owen had been issued with a child abduction warning notice in October, and informed she should not have been in the company of a certain young girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

When the girl failed to return home on November 14, she was reported missing, and police visited Owen’s address.

The girl was found hiding in the kitchen, and upon Owen’s arrest, a mobile phone was seized.

Ms Smout said text messages and pictures revealed a number of additional dates where Owen had clearly been in the company of the young girl.

In police interview, Owen told officers the pair had mutual friends, and she treated the girl like a little sister.

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Barry Arnett, defending, said Owen made a genuine mistake in befriending the girl.

He said she viewed her as a little sister, and in hindsight, what she had been told by the girl about her home life may not have been the truth.

Mr Arnett said Owen felt protective over the girl but acknowledged what she did was wrong.

The court heard there had been no contact between the pair since.

Owen was made subject of an 18-month community order, to include 30 rehabilitation days. 

She was fined £120 and ordered to pay costs of £85 and a £114 surcharge.