Manhunt after boy aged ten stabbed in street by stranger

Heavy-set attacker ‘smelling of alcohol’ cut child’s throat in front of his mother

A MOTHer watched in horror as a stranger stabbed her ten-year-old son in the throat outside their home.

A relative told how the boy’s white T- shirt turned red as his mother desperately attempted to stem the bleeding with her hands while a neighbour called 999.

The boy remained in a stable condition in hospital yesterday with his parents at his bedside. He has told them that he thought his assailant smelled of alcohol.

The relative said: ‘We don’t know the person who attacked him, or why it happened. He cut the left side of his throat. He was walking along the road and took a knife out. The boy started to run but he grabbed him and slit his throat. His mother held him by the neck to stop the bleeding.’

The attacker was described as a ‘heavy-set’ Asian man, around 5ft 10in and in his mid-20s. He was wearing a brown coat when he struck at around 5pm on Saturday.

The child, from the Latimer district of Leicester, was taken to the

Queen’s Medical Centre in nottingham. His injuries are said to not be life-threatening.

dinu Patel, 62, who lives in a neighbouring street, said: ‘I was watching TV with my husband and I saw the blue lights and thought there was an ambulance outside. My husband looked out of the window and saw about seven police cars. I could tell it was something serious – not just a burglary or something. They were looking in all the gardens.’

detective Inspector Tim Lindley of Leicestershire Police said: ‘This was an act of violence against a young child who was out, in the street, with his mother.

‘It happened in a residential area at a time of day when there would have been people about, either on foot or driving through.

‘We need to find who was responsible for injuring this boy. Was a friend or family member out during this time and returned home in an agitated state or behaving out of character? If you have any information about what happened we want to hear from you.’

He also appealed for anybody with CCTV or dashcam footage of the incident to come forward.

The attack comes a week after a 12-year-old was shot in a drive-by attack in Sheffield. The boy, who was with a group of children and adults, suffered leg injuries after he was reportedly shot by mistake during a feud between rival gangs. A 25-year- old man has been charged with attempted murder over the incident.