THE family of a woman who went on the run with her baby held a protest against her arrest.

Michelle Kelly, 28, is took her one-year- old son, Jaden, to Scotland after Essex County Council secured a court order to take the child into care.

Police using CCTV footage tracked the pair down in Edinburgh.

Michelle, of Mellow Purgess Close, Laindon, has been charged with keeping away a child in care without lawful authority and will appear in Basildon Magistrates’ Court on Spetember 12.

Jaden was placed in emergency foster care in Edinburgh until Essex Social Services are able to collect him.

Michelle’s sister Penny Felton, 25, said: “I’ve spoken to her and she seems OK, but is still going to fight for Jaden.

“When police took him from Michelle, he started crying and kicking because he didn’t want to leave her.

“That shows how much he loves her.

How can they do that to a baby?

“I’ve seen a dramatic change since Michelle had him. She’s really grown up. Jaden is her life. She thinks the world of him.

“No one was listening to her and she just wanted someone to take notice. I would have done the same in her shoes, if I could.”

Michelle was taken for questioning at  B a s i l d o n police station after she was arrested.

Members of her close-knit family took to the town centre to protest her innocence.

The family claim they have supporters across the countrywho have promised to sign a petition to see her reunited with Jaden.

Michelle has a nine-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter, who live with her parents, and a five year-old son in care.

Her grandmother, Doris Pitcher, 80, said: “I have never broken the law, but I support what she did.

“If Michelle had done something wrong, I would have given her one warning and then been on the phone to social services or the police myself.

“I have raised a lot of children and none of them has been as advanced as Jaden. He’s such a clever little boy and anyone who looks at him can tell he’s not neglected.”

A police spokesman said: “A 28-yearold woman has been arrested on suspicion of keeping a child from a responsible person under section 49 of the Children’s Act 1989.”