Kidnapper says sorry to 5-year-old and her family

Cina Ma was discovered wrapped in a blanket in an empty house. Photo / Supplied

"I'm sorry to the family and I'm sorry to the little girl."

With those words Deqiong Deng, 25, yesterday pleaded guilty to kidnapping 5-year-old Xin Xin Ma in July last year with the intention of holding her for ransom.

Deng's unexpected guilty plea, at the North Shore District Court yesterday, came less than two months before he was due to appear at a depositions hearing that would have determined if there was enough evidence for him to go on trial.

Xin Xin Ma was snatched from outside her Albany home on July 14 by a masked man and driven away. She was found five days later - bundled in a wardrobe but unharmed - just a few hundred metres from her home.

No reason was given in court yesterday for the plea but when the charge was read to Deng he replied: "I'm guilty and I'm sorry. I'm sorry to the family and I'm sorry to the little girl."

Deng will be sentenced in the High Court on May 12 after Judge David McNaughton agreed to a Crown application to have the sentencing moved from the district court.

Crown prosecutor Simon Moore, SC, said the move to the higher court was because it was such a serious case.

Xin Xin's father Mark Ma was in court to hear the guilty plea.