Kidnap girl celebrates exam success

A teenager who hit world headlines when she was taken from her mother's arms at just 36 hours old was today celebrating her A-level results.

Alex Griffiths was snatched from a London hospital by a woman posing as a social worker. Following a 17-day worldwide police search she was found safe and well in a Cotswold cottage. After splitting with Alex's father, her mother Dawn left London and returned to her home town of Middlesbrough. Money offered by a newspaper for Ms Griffiths' story was placed in a trust fund and paid for Alex's private education at Polam Hall School, near Darlington.

Now aged 18, she is celebrating after scoring glowing A-level results - an A in maths and Bs in further maths and drama and now plans to study maths at Manchester University. The teenager also gained Bs in business and general studies AS-levels.

Her trust fund paid for her education until she was 16. After that, her fees were paid by the Old Scholars' Association - a fund set up by former pupils who have gone on to make their fortunes. Alex put her results down to the incredible twist of fate that saw her snatched from her mother when only hours hold.

"It's strange to think that I probably wouldn't have done as well as I did if I hadn't been kidnapped when I was a baby," she told the Daily Mail website. "The school has been excellent. The teachers have worked really hard and have given me lots of extra lessons and helped me with my revision. If I had gone to a normal, mainstream school, I probably would have done all right but I wouldn't have got such good results."

It was in January 1990 that Alex was taken from a London hospital by a woman - coincidentally named Janet Griffiths but no relation. Griffiths admitted stealing the baby in a desperate bid to save a relationship with her millionaire lover. She was sent to a psychiatric unit but released after four months. She later died of cancer.