Boy, 3, seriously hurt in 'evil acid attack' in Worcester as three men hunted

This is absolutely horrendous...



Boy, 3, seriously hurt in 'evil acid attack' in Worcester as three men hunted

https://news.sky.com/story/three-year-old-seriously-injured-in-suspected-acid-attack-in-worcester-11445152


By Lucia Binding, news reporter

A three-year-old boy has been seriously injured in a suspected acid attack in a shop in Worcester, police have said.





He is being treated in hospital for serious burns to his arm and face.






The boy was "deliberately targeted" in the attack, which happened at around 2.15pm on Saturday in Home Bargains at Shrub Hill Retail Park, Tallow Hill.

West Mercia Police have released images of three men they would like to speak to and have appealed for anyone with information about the incident.

Chief Superintendent Mark Travis said: "At this time we are treating this as a deliberate attack on a three-year-old boy."



The men may have information vital to the investigation, say police

Image:
The men may have information vital to the investigation, say police

He said the incident will "rightly shock the local community" and that police are carrying out a thorough investigation to identify those responsible.

The motive of the attack is unknown.

An ambulance arrived at the scene in eight minutes and crew assessed the boy's injuries.

After treatment, he was taken to hospital in Worcester. There is no update on his condition.

Officers are working to establish exactly what happened and exactly what the substance involved was.

A 39-year-old man from Wolverhampton has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

"The three men in the photo may have information vital to our investigation," Mr Travis added.

"I am sure someone will recognise them and I would urge anyone with information to contact us as a matter of urgency."


Worcester City Council leader Marc Bayliss described the attack as "absolutely pure evil".

He added: "Worcester is not that sort of place. We are a quintessential small English city.

"I have never heard of an acid attack in Worcester so this is absolutely not something we have any experience of."

Mr Bayliss urged anyone with information to come forward.

Not that throwing acid at anyone can ever be acceptable but I thought that it must have been aimed at someone else; to know that a child was the intended target is dreadful.

This bit in the report sounds strange. Why do the police need to question the child? Did none of the adults with him see what had happened and who did it?


“In terms of what the little boy is saying to us at the moment, that’s something that is a complex process and takes a long period of time. So I am not able to talk about what he or his family are saying to us."

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/crime/%E2%80%98acid-attack%E2%80%99-on-boy-not-believed-to-be-racially-motivated-say-police/ar-BBL0lAy

This is from The Sun so we have to be cautious but, speaking generally, often when a crime seems too dreadful for strangers to be involved, those responsible are known to, or are part of, the family.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6855597/worcester-acid-attack-latest-news-toddler-dad-arrested/