Mother and son in protection as four men held over acid attack

A THREE-YEAR-OLD boy deliberately targeted in an acid attack has been put under police protection along with his mother after the arrest of four men for an “unspeakable crime” caught on camera.

The boy suffered burns to his face and arms after a substance – described as a “pungent pink chemical” – was thrown or sprayed on him in a home discount store in Worcester while he sat in a buggy pushed by his mother.

Sources have told The Telegraph that police believe the boy was targeted on Saturday at the Home Bargains store as part of a wider community dispute.

Police have refused to discuss any motive for the attack on the child but insisted it was not related to a march by the English Defence League, a farright, anti-islamic organisation, held in Worcester at the same time.

One theory for the assault is that the mother and child had recently moved to Worcester and that the “attacker or attackers” followed her there. A 39-year-old man was arrested in Wolverhampton on Sunday and three men, aged 22, 25 and 26, were detained yesterday in an early morning raid at a house in Walthamstow in east London.

All four are being questioned on suspicion of conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm. A West Mercia Police source said: “The mother fears for her safety and wellbeing and that of her little boy. This is an unspeakable crime.

“They are under police protection. They are safe but still in a state of shock by what happened.”

The child suffered serious burns but was discharged from hospital yesterday. Witnesses described seeing the boy’s distraught mother in tears and screaming: “My baby, my baby, what have they done to my baby?”

West Mercia Police said yesterday that they were still seeking a motive and were “keeping an open mind”.

But Ch Supt Mark Travis suggested it was a result of a “dispute in communities”.