Four men have been arrested in connection with an attack on a three-year-old boy who was sprayed in the face with acid as he sat in his pram in a shop in Worcester.
The child suffered serious burns to his face and arm after being doused in a corrosive liquid, in what police believe was a targeted attack, in a Home Bargains shop on the Worcestershire city’s Shrub Hill Retail Park on Saturday afternoon, says The Sun.
The child’s mother cried, “What have they done to my baby?”, and screamed for help as a “skinny white guy” fled the shop, according to witnesses.
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One shopper told the Daily Mail: “There was a bit of shouting and screaming in the store but then it all went quiet. But then this woman ran outside and started screaming that her baby had been hurt and needed help.
“The mother was sitting outside the shop, screaming: ‘My baby, my baby, what have they done to my baby?’”
A 39-year-old man, from Wolverhampton, was arrested shortly after the attack. The other three suspects - aged 22, 25, and 26 - were detained in London hours later. All four are suspected of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm, according to The Guardian.
The boy has been discharged from the hospital and is back with his family. However, the long-term effects of his injuries are unknown.
Detective Inspector Tony Garner, from West Mercia Police, said: “We’d like to thank everyone who shared our appeal over the weekend and contacted us with information. All of this is helping us to build up a better picture of this incident. We’re continuing to urge anyone else with information to contact us.”
Worcester City Council leader Marc Bayliss described the attack as “absolutely pure evil”.
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