HOME Secretary Charles Clarke today came under increasing pressure to toughen the law against child abductors, following the case of a York predator who tried to kidnap a girl.

York MP Hugh Bayley has today backed the Change It campaign launched by The Press by writing to the minister to highlight a "loophole in the law", which he said had prevented a would-be child abductor from being placed on the Sex Offenders' Register.

And he proposed two possible changes in the law. One was the creation of a new offence of "abduction for sexual abuse" or "sexually motivated abduction."

The other was for a judge to be given the power to enter someone on the Sex Offenders' Register when sentencing them for any offence, including non-sexual crimes, if the evidence gave him strong grounds for concluding that they presented a serious risk of sex offending.

The MP's comments came in the wake of a case at York Crown Court last week, at which Nestl worker Terry Delaney was jailed for four years by a judge for trying to abduct a 13-year-old girl at an Acomb bus stop.

Delaney, 52, of Bouthwaite Drive, Acomb, struck up a conversation with the girl before grabbing her wrist and trying to pull her away.

Fortunately, she managed to shake herself free and run away. It emerged in court that Delaney could not be prevented from meeting children when he is released.

Judge Paul Hoffman was prevented from registering him as a sex offender because child snatching is not classed as a sexual offence.

The judge said he believed Delaney represented a serious risk to children in the future, but he could make no order restraining or prohibiting his conduct. "It makes no sense to me," he said. "It is obviously an anomaly."

The girl's mother warned that parents would have to be vigilant when Delaney was released from prison, and called for the law to be tightened up in such cases.

In his letter to Mr Clarke, Mr Bayley extensively quoted comments from the judge, as reported in The Press, and said: "I presume that abduction is not currently an offence for which a person may be entered on the Sex Offenders' Register, because there are some cases of abduction which do not involve potential or actual sexual abuse.

"However, the judge in this case appears to have come to a conclusion - based on the evidence adduced in the trial or the probation reports before sentencing - that Delaney will present a serious risk to children in the future when he is released from prison."

After outlining his suggestions, Mr Bayley concluded: "I should welcome your response to these proposals."

Updated: 09:32 Thursday, May 04, 2006