Worcester acid attack boy is in a police safe house

A mother whose three-year-old son was the victim of an ‘evil’ acid attack was living in a safe house after fleeing a family dispute, it was claimed last night.

The woman, thought to be from the Middle East, had been living with her three children in a quiet residential street in Worcester for the past eight months, neighbours said.

Her child suffered serious burns when a corrosive substance was sprayed or thrown over him as he sat in his pushchair in a Home Bargains store on Saturday.

West Mercia Police believe the child was deliberately targeted in Home Bargains on Shrub Hill Retail Park at Tallow Hill. They have released images of three men (pictured) they would like to speak to

Police have now arrested four men - but none of them in Worcester. Three were in Walthamstow, London, last night and another in Wolverhampton

Police have now arrested four men – but none of them in Worcester. Three were in Walthamstow, London, last night and another in Wolverhampton

The woman screamed ‘What have you done to my baby?’ after the thugs hurled the acid at the toddler in an attack which was captured on CCTV.

Three men, aged 22, 25, and 26, were arrested in London in the early hours of yesterday morning on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm.

Now a source close to the investigation revealed the mother, who has not been named, had fled to Worcester from Wolverhampton after ‘difficulties within her family’.

Chief Superintendent Mark Travis said: 'At this time we are treating this as a deliberate attack on a three-year-old boy.' Pictured: The men wish to speak to

Chief Superintendent Mark Travis said: ‘At this time we are treating this as a deliberate attack on a three-year-old boy.’ Pictured: The men wish to speak to

The source said yesterday: ‘The mother and her son are thought to be Middle Eastern.

‘She had moved to Worcester from elsewhere but hasn’t been here long. She had moved because of difficulties within her family.

‘Nobody knows her really well and she didn’t have any connection with Worcester. That’s why she was moved here, because she was fleeing her previous situation.

‘Somehow the parties she was in a dispute with found out where she had moved to and that’s how this horrendous incident has happened.

Chief Superintendent Mark Travis added: 'Officers are working hard to establish exactly what happened and what the substance involved was.' Pictured: The store in Worcester

Chief Superintendent Mark Travis added: ‘Officers are working hard to establish exactly what happened and what the substance involved was.’ Pictured: The store in Worcester

Police officers conducting a search of Shrub Hill Retail Park in Worcester on Sunday 

Police officers conducting a search of Shrub Hill Retail Park in Worcester on Sunday 

‘The acid attack was targeted at her. The child just happened to get in the way.’

On Sunday officers made enquiries near the woman’s home, asking residents if they had seen any suspicious vehicles or people in the area.

And last night police forensic officers could be seen combing the area. They were also seen searching a nearby phone box.

Officers are investigating a suspected acid attack on a three-year-old child on Saturday 

Officers are investigating a suspected acid attack on a three-year-old child on Saturday 

A neighbour said: ‘Police asked us if we had noticed any strange vehicles or anything disturbing. At first we thought it might about a robbery but we were shocked to find out that it was connected to the horrible acid attack. We have not seen the woman for a few days.’

Neighbours said she did not appear to have a partner and had been seen taking her children to school each day.

A neighbour said: ‘The house she was living in is a safe house. We have been told that someone was paid to attack the woman – but they missed and got the child. It’s disgusting that men would do this.’ The woman and her children have since been moved to another safe house.

A 39-year-old man from Wolverhampton who was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm remains in police custody.

Yesterday Nick Carson, from West Midlands Ambulance Service, who treated the little boy, told how the fluid had an acrid, chemical smell.

He said: ‘It’s horrific, absolutely horrific. We had no inkling or any reason to suspect it was an acid attack.

The very thin blue line: he’s made of paper 

Pictured: The cardboard PC 

Pictured: The cardboard PC 

The police officer looked a bit wooden, and as shoppers got closer, they could see why.

This life-size cardboard policeman was spotted in the Worcester branch of Home Bargains yesterday.

Flat-pack PCs are an increasingly popular way for cash-strapped forces to boost their street presence.

They are often seen in petrol stations to deter motorists from driving away without paying and in shops to discourage shoplifting.

‘We just thought that maybe he had come into contact with some sort of chemical. But to find out afterwards that that was the case, it’s shocking.

‘The fluid that I saw was pink in colour. It had quite a strong smell. No bleach or acidy type smell but it was an astringent kind of smell. Just smelt like a chemical really.’

Chief Superintendent Mark Travis said the boy’s relatives were coming to terms with the ‘shocking’ attack.

He told a press conference: ‘It’s a difficult time for them and we need to make sure that while we work through the investigation they are safe and secure and are allowed to deal with the issues that they face.

‘I want to make sure the message is really clear that this is a very, very rare occurrence and what we will do is work to make people understand that this is not the way to resolve issues and disputes in communities.’

He added: ‘The incident was captured on CCTV but we will not release any footage that showed the substance being thrown or sprayed.

‘A number of other exhibits from the area have also been taken for examinations.

‘We have looked at the movement of people in the footage throughout the area and consider this to be a deliberate act against the little boy.’

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