A man has been arrested in north England after punching a baby that he mistook for a toy doll! Five-day-old Elsie Duckers was in her pram with her mother, Amy, at a supermarket outside Manchester, when a 63 year old male approached them, before striking the baby in the head. He then recoiled in horror after he realized that the baby was real.
Amy said:
“The punch was that hard you could heard the connection as this man hit Elsie. I just can’t believe it – especially as it was on a five day old baby . It was the first time I’d taken Elsie out since she was born. Now I’m just too frightened to take her out again. My seven year-old was there and saw everything, and she was just screaming. She thought he’d killed the baby. I don’t want anyone to touch Elsie ever again. I literally can’t get my head around why someone would do this.”
She continued:
“He left her with a huge red mark and we at first were just stunned. He then began denying anything had happened, despite the crying children and visible imprint on Elsie’s face and I just went hysterical, asking what he just did, why he hurt my baby. He was trying to deny it at first, saying he hadn’t done anything, but when he saw the mark he just switched. He started being really apologetic, and saying he thought Elsie was just a doll.I just wanted to get my baby checked, and get both my kids away from this evil man, so I left. The staff at Tesco were brilliant and immediately came to help. While I called an ambulance, they called the police to deal with the man.”
Elsie was rushed to hospital, and kept in overnight for observation. Thankfully, she was uninjured by the attack, save for mild bruising.
Greater Manchester Police said:
“A man has been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a baby. Police were called shortly before 6.45pm to a supermarket on Altrincham Road in Baguley on Monday to reports of a child having been hit. The baby girl was taken to hospital as a precaution and has since been discharged. A 63-year-old was arrested on suspicion of assault and is currently in custody being questioned by officers.”
