Father charged as children lost from Stoke-on-Trent hotel found in Derby

Mother says ‘it was like a part of me was missing’ after her two young children disappeared

Photos issued by Nottinghamshire Police of Na'ilah Khan (PA)

A father who allegedly took his two young children from a hotel room in Stoke-on-Trent last Friday has been charged with kidnapping.

Police launched a search for two-year-old Na’ilah and 10-month-old Sulaimon Khan after they disappeared from a room at the Quality Inn Hotel in Hanley where they were staying with their mother.

The children were found yesterday evening at around 7pm in a guest house in Derby. Police had already arrested their father Saleem Tahir, 40, and his mother Denise Smith-Sellers, 67, on Monday.

The little girl and boy have since been reunited with their mother.

In a statement, Staffordshire Police said it had charged Tahir, from Kelso Gardens, Nottingham, with two offences of kidnap. He was due to appear before magistrates today.

His mother, also from Nottingham, has been released on police bail pending further inquiries.

In a statement, the children’s mother told the BBC: “Words cannot express how I felt when the police told me they had found my two babies.

“I have just been numb these last few days. It was like a part of me was missing.

“No mother should have to go through this ordeal.

“I would like to thank Staffordshire Police for their support, help and dedication in returning my children back to me.”