Teen who stole a car pleads guilty to kidnap baby and young girl and driving away - is jailed for 2 years

A teenage thug who stole a car with two children inside while high on drugs before abandoning the baby on a doorstep has been sentenced to two years' detention.

Martin Cawley, 19, was high on drugs when he got into a parked car and drove off in what was described as 'every parent's worst nightmare' in Enfield, north London, on July 2. 

Terrifying moment 12-year-old girl leaps from car as kidnap fiend drives off with baby still in back, The terrified youngster can be seen in CCTV footage as she manages to launch herself from the passenger seat and takes a painful tumble into the road.

• Martin Cawley, 19, was high on drugs when he jumped into the black Astra
• Mother had left vehicle with keys in ignition as she popped to nearby shop
• Teenage car-jacker stole her car while her two children sat in the back seat
• She was left standing in road screaming 'my baby, my baby' as he sped off
• Cawley later abandoned car and baby was found in car seat on a doorstep
• The teenager was sentenced to two years in young offenders' institute

Martin Cawley pleaded guilty to kidnap, child abduction and aggravated vehicle taking at Wood Green Crown Court today. The prosecutor said he had been high on drugs when he stole the car. He will be sentenced in October.

Martin Cawley, 19, was scheduled to appear at Wood Green Crown Court via video-link on suspicion of kidnapping a child in a car, refused to leave his HMP Pentonville cell to face a judge via video link on charges of kidnap and child abduction.

It is alleged that he struck as a 27-year-old woman was parking her Vauxhall Astra in Kempe Road, Enfield, north London, on 2 July.

Inside, she left her 12-year-old daughter and the 11-month old baby in th car..

A 19-year-old man was arrested by police at 1:15pm on Tuesday on suspicion of kidnapping a child following the incident in Enfield.

Detectives have been investigating the theft of a three-door Vauxhall Astra, which was stolen after the children’s  27-year-old mother and an adult relative left the car withe children inside parked on Kemp Road to go to nearby shops at 12:45pm on 2 July.

An unknown man later entered the car and speedily drove away.

The 12-year-old girl, described as “frightened and scared” by police, managed to escape from the vehicle by throwing herself out into the road, but the baby remained in the car still strapped to the seat.

Police called to the scene treated the girl for minor injuries; she did not require hospital treatment.

Officers at the Met were later contacted by Hertfordshire Police who said the baby boy had been left unharmed on the doorstep of a residential address in Cheshunt.

The vehicle was found abandoned a short distance from the address later that day.