Police hunting Abbie ask people to be nosy

POLICE hunting for the kidnapped baby Abbie Humphries said yesterday that they wanted to encourage people to be nosy. They fear that after nine days people will stop talking about the kidnapping and information will dry up.

Abbie was just four hours-old when she was taken from her parents, Karen and Roger, a week last Friday, by a woman pretending to be a nurse at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

Dr George Carey, the Archbishop of Canterbury, yesterday appealed to the kidnapper to return the baby to her parents and said his heart went out to them.

On BBC Radio 4's Sunday programme, Dr Carey said: 'I'd want to say to whoever may be protecting or has the baby that surely you would feel it's not your child. You must return it to the legitimate mother and father, and we hope quickly, so that the child would be protected from further harm.'

The Bishop of Southwell, the Rt Rev Patrick Harris, whose diocese includes Nottingham, said special prayers were offered for the Humphries family yesterday.

Prayers were also said for the person holding Abbie, 'that they will be touched in some way and this whole very sad episode can be concluded'.

Inspector David Gilbert told a press conference in Nottingham: 'We want people to keep talking, almost sort of nosy neighbours. Talking in pubs, talking at the bus stop, asking each other who they think may be holding Abbie. Asking each other whether there is something they saw that wasn't right.'

Thousands of people have contacted police with information following the release of photofits and video images of the woman as she was leaving the hospital.