Mr McGrath was a sales demonstrator from Bradford Park, and was heading home on the morning of 1st January. He drove down Millwood Avenue then turned into Lady Game Drive shortly after 5am. As he turned into Lady Game Drive he saw only one vehicle on his left, a dirty green Ford Prefect.

Around 320 metres further on, towards Grosvenor Road, he saw a small boy, aged about 5. He stopped the car and spoke to the boy, who said that he wanted to go home, and walked past Mr McGrath.

McGrath was worried about such a young child being out on his own at that time of day. He turned his car around and caught up with the boy, then got out and took the boy by his arm. He asked the boy if he was lost or needed help. The boy replied: "No, no, no... I want to go home." He appeared to be in a shocked state of mind.

Mr McGrath was asking the boy if he could take him to a police station when a man emerged from the bushes. McGrath asked the man if the boy was his. The man said "no". The boy tried to get away, and when McGrath looked up again two seconds later, the man had vanished. The boy ran away up the road, and McGrath left. Later, at the Inquest, McGrath saw Kenneth Challis outside the court. He identified Challis as the man he'd spoken to.