On 29 July 1995, Sophie Hook, aged seven, was visiting relatives in Llandudno with her family to celebrate her cousin's birthday. During the afternoon Sophie stripped to her underpants to play with the children in an inflatable pool in the garden. Hughes is believed to have observed the children including Sophie from a concealed point on a bridle path overlooking the property. Hughes was spotted in the area on his bicycle by several witnesses. He told one of them, a woman walking her dog who saw him crouching in the bushes, that he was looking for money that he had lost. From the bridle path Hughes would have been able to overhear the children's conversations, and was aware that they were planning to spend the night in a tent in the garden. Later that day he is believed to have attempted to abduct six-year-old Alexandra Roberts who was doing handstands in a park less than four minutes' cycle ride from the garden, but the girl ran away.