Max, the sweet-toothed boy, 3, who walked a mile at 3am to buy chocolate

Adventurer: Max McGrath, dressed in pyjamas and oversized shoes, headed off for a sweet hunt... at 3am

When three-year-old Max McGrath had an urge for a chocolate egg in the middle of the night, nothing was going to stop him from satisfying his craving.

At 3am the sweet-toothed toddler climbed out of bed, slipped on his brother's shoes and armed himself with his pocket money and a front door key, before heading out on a mile-long walk to the shop.

Still dressed in his pyjamas, determined Max toddled through deserted streets in oversized shoes, crossing several roads, until he was finally spotted peering despondently through the window of a closed Somerfield supermarket.

Meanwhile his family, from Longridge, Preston, remained blissfully unaware of his adventures as they slept.

Newspaper delivery driver James Brown, from Bolton, said he was stunned to see fearless Max outside the shop.

"I approached him and he told me in a very matter-of-fact way that he was going to the shop," said James.

"He told me that his family were at home asleep."

James took Max back to the family home at 4am and, when he could not wake Max's parents, called police and explained what had happened.

"He was fine but it must have been such a shock for his family when they found out what had happened," he said.

"I have a child about the same age and it is terrifying to think what an adventurous youngster can get up to."

Max's relieved mother Amy said: "Max is a very adventurous boy but is a complete surprise that he would do something like this.

Delivery driver James Brown, who spotted Max peering into the window of the Somerfield store a mile-and-a-half from his home

"It is terrifying to think what might have happened because he must have crossed several roads.

"Anyone could have found him but I am very grateful that Mr Brown did what he did and brought him home safely to us.

"When the police arrived it was an awful shock. They said they had found my son.

"I'm still shaking from shock after all this."

"I have a child about the same age and it is terrifying to think what an adventurous youngster can get up to."

When considering the possible variations of cadence and stresses that could be placed upon such a sentence when spoken, I confess that I could envision myself as saying the same sentence in the way it was written in the article. That being said, I think also that there's a strong chance that the article was not written as precisely and true to the original statement as it could have been....it has been decades since newspapers were regarded as bastions of reference-quality English, inhabited by fierce protectors of truth and accuracy, and so I guess that this sort of thing doesn't exactly rise to the level of a passionate objection for me since I have such low expectations of 'news' papers in terms not only of content but in the quality of the written word to begin with. When I can pick up any American newspaper and find multiple grammatical or spelling errors on every page I'm afraid that my expectations in this arena are not great. This dismal track record, coupled with the brazen and unabashed embrace of Leftist political agendas while professing objectivity leaves me as one who doesn't expect precision or accuracy of any sort from such sources.

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