A 25-year-old woman accused of snatching a toddler from the Port Elizabeth beachfront last week has pleaded not guilty in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court to a charge of kidnapping of a minor.
Megan Diedericks - listed in court documents as bush dweller from Walmer township - first told the court on Tuesday she would represent herself in the matter but after being informed she could apply for Legal Aid assistance, for free, decided to appoint a legal representative.
It is alleged Diedericks kidnapped a three-year-old Bethelsdorp boy on Friday after striking up a conversation with the child’s 52-year-old grandmother, who was waiting for the child’s mother at the beach near Something Good in Summerstrand.
According to police the two women had gone to buy liquor at Summerstrand Village before returning to the beachfront.