Major Sheffield police hunt as jilted former lover suspected of abducting and holding his ex prisoner

The woman, a 24-year-old office worker named only as ‘Yasmin’, was reported missing by her family after failing to return from work, with her car still in her employer’s car park with her handbag still inside.

It sparked a major investigation by officers from Moss Way police station, near Hackenthorpe, which featured last night in the final episode of the television series Reported Missing. Police were concerned because a man had previously been accused of harassing her.

She had a new partner, and police said she was frightened by her ex. Officers found CCTV pictures showing the man approaching her in the car park – and then driving away with her in his car.

They described her as looking surprised to see him turning up. Police classified her as a ‘high risk’ missing person, and tracked the man’s car along the A630 using cameras, and sent messages to her mobile phone asking her to call.

But when she contacted officers, the way she was answering their questions – and her refusal to meet them – left them concerned there was someone with her stopping her giving full answers. They traced the phone to Rotherham – and kept trying to call her.

Eventually she called back – agreeing to meet them at Shepcote Lane police station, near Tinsley. She arrived alone in a taxi – and told police the former partner had agreed she could leave after officers had insisted on seeing her.

She confirmed she had got into his car the previous night because she did not know what to do and was worried about the consequences of not doing so. She told police: “I can’t believe he turned up. We broke up and he just wouldn’t leave me alone. He said he just couldn’t be without me, he’s going to kill someone that I really love. I just went along with it because I didn’t know what to do.”

Police then went to the flat where the man had lived – forcing their way in after getting no reply when they knocked. The flat was empty – but a search of the local area by a team of officers found him nearby. He was arrested on suspicion of false imprisonment and kidnap.

'Yasmin' returned home safely, but the Crown Prosecution Service said there was not a strong enough case to charge the suspect, who had told police when he was arrested that she had gone with him of her own accord

Sgt Andy Darby, who had worked on the case, said: “He wanted her in that car and he got her in that car. You don’t know what he’s saying, making threats – he threatened her family.

“Coercive control is not a recent thing it’s been about for years and years, but it’s a recent law. We’ve got a lot of support services people can use, more so than when I first started. We’ve moved on by giving victims of crime places to go and people to speak to, and that’s brilliant.”