Get Philippe Gandus Predator Out Of Ireland

Red alert to parents as convicted child predator arrives in Dublin… with a suitcase full of toys!

A MAJOR Garda alert has been issued over a child predator who arrived in Dublin yesterday with a suitcase of full of toys.

Frenchman Philippe Gandus, who was convicted of trying to abduct a three-year-old child, flew in from Cologne in Germany yesterday morning, prompting security fears.

The warning was issued because of his conviction and gardaí were notified of his arrival into the country by German police. At Dublin Airport, Gandus was questioned about the reason for his visit. His suitcase was also searched.

Officers were alarmed to find that as well as clothes, it contained children’s toys.

Gardaí fear that the Frenchman, who is on the sex offenders’ list in the UK, still poses a risk to children, and yesterday warned parents to be on the lookout for him.

However, they are powerless to deport the 46-year-old – who previously fled a mental hospital – as he has no outstanding warrants internationally or convictions in Ireland. Gandus, who is 5ft7in tall, has a criminal conviction in the UK for attempting to lure a child away from his parents.

However, a senior security source explained that, as a European citizen, Gandus is entitled to enter and leave Ireland as he pleases.

The criminal provided gardaí with an address in Dublin city centre where he said he will be staying for the duration of his visit.

The Child Protection Unit within the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation has been notified of his arrival into Ireland. This unit will decide on what level of monitoring of Gandus will be carried out but senior sources told the Mail it is ‘unlikely’ he will be monitored around-the-clock.

While here in Ireland, Gandus doesn’t have to inform gardaí of his movements because, unlike in the UK, Ireland doesn’t have a Sarah’s Law, which allows partial monitoring of those on the sex offenders’ register.

Gandus was sectioned under the British mental health act for an indefinite term in July 2009

The drifter was arrested in October 2008 after parishioners in Peckham, south east London, spotted him trying to lead a child from their church by the hand.

When he was stopped, he ran off before police could be contacted. But officers caught up with him ten days later when he was alleged to have attempted to lure a second boy under the age of four from a Hamleys toy store in the West End.

Gandus was cleared of the second charge after a court heard CCTV did not catch the alleged abduction attempt. Officers from Westminster CID were able to link the defendant to the Peckham child-snatch attempt and he was subsequently arrested and convicted on this charge. Detective Sergeant Philip McInerney, of Westminster CID, said at the time: ‘Gandus clearly poses a risk to young children.’

Gandus was served with a deportation order in 2009 banning him from the UK until 2014. But in May 2011, he was arrested after he sneaked back into Britain.

He was also kicked out of the US. In June 2011, at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in London, prosecutor Victoria Ojo told the deportation breach case: ‘Since 2009 he has subsequently been deported from America having committed similar offences (of entering the country illegally). It appears he was being investigated for indecent assault against a minor, but was not charged.’

Well-placed security sources said last night: ‘I can totally understand why any parent in Ireland would be worried about this man. The fact that there is an alert out on this man shows how seriously he is considered internationally.’