Protecting Politicians' Kids: Plot Against Blair's Son Thwarted
Jan. 18, 2006 — -- Fathers for Justice, a U.K.-based fathers' rights group, today tried to distance itself from reports that former members had discussed kidnapping British Prime Minister Tony Blair's youngest child, 5-year-old Leo.
Blair and his wife, Cherie, learned of the potential threat just before Christmas.
Scotland Yard says the plot never reached beyond what they've called the chattering stage. The plotters made no real attempt and the police made no arrests.
However, according to a spokesman for Fathers for Justice, police took the chattering seriously enough to warn the plotters they could be shot if they tried to breach security at Blair's office. The alleged plotters were also questioned by Britain's special antiterror unit, SO-13.
The plot was first reported in the Sun, a British tabloid.
"What they were planning to do was to kidnap Leo to not harm him but to take him away in what would have been the most spectacular publicity stunt imaginable," said the Sun's editor, Graham Dudman.
The aim of the kidnapping was apparently to highlight the cause of fathers denied custody of their children. This morning, a spokesman for Fathers for Justice said the plotters were no longer members of the group and had been expelled before hatching the plan.
"We are a group campaigning to reunite children with their fathers, not remove them as in this Leo Blair case," said John Ison of Fathers for Justice. "This is not our method. Our method is one of fun protest. This is not funny. We would not endorse it in any way shape or form."
Fathers for Justice is well-known in Britain for pulling off stunts at the very heart of the British government, grabbing headlines and embarrassing security forces.
In 2004, one Fathers for Justice member threw purple powder within inches of Blair's head in Parliament.
Later the same year, another member dressed as Batman famously climbed the facade of Buckingham Palace.
Other public figures have dealt with threats to their children. David Letterman's son was the target of a kidnapping plot last year. But experts say such cases are extremely uncommon.
"This is a very rare type of a situation," said Nancy McBride, the national safety director for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. "The danger to children is much greater from people they know than from people they don't know."
"Kidnapping a really high-profile person or child of a high-profile person is a super challenge," said Stanton E. Samenow, author of "Inside the Criminal Mind."
"The excitement in actually doing it and the huge effect it would have is the payoff for these people. It's someone who has no concept that life is not a one-way street."
The leader of Fathers for Justice, Matt O'Connor, told The Associated Press he was suspending its operations while the investigation was under way.
"I will not let this organization be hijacked by militants and I ask all fathers to respect our commitment to peaceful, nonviolent direct action no matter how aggrieved they feel," he said in a statement on the group's Web site.
"I have three young boys myself and couldn't think of anything more traumatic for Mr. Blair, his family and his son than what is reported in this morning's Sun newspaper," O'Connor said.
ABCNEWS.com's Rose Palazzolo contributed to this report.
Related Stories
ABC News Live