Five-day-old baby punched in Tesco
63-year-old shopper ‘claimed he thought girl was doll’
A SHOPPER allegedly punched a five-day-old baby in the face in front of her horrified mother before claiming he had mistaken her for a doll.
Amy Duckers’ newborn daughter Elsie was in her pram in her local Tesco when she was approached by a man who had overheard a friend saying: ‘Come and have a look at this beautiful baby.’
As the 27-year-old looked on in disbelief, the man was said to have struck Elsie a powerful blow to the head which left the helpless baby in tears, the mother said yesterday.
Bizarrely, he reportedly claimed he had thought the 6lb 12oz infant was a toy. Elsie – on her first outing after arriving three weeks early – was treated in hospital for seven hours but suffered no lasting ill-effects.
The alleged attack occurred as Miss
‘I’m too frightened to take her out now’
Duckers was shopping at the supermarket in Baguley, Greater Manchester, along with daughter Libby, seven, and partner Lewis Temple, 24.
‘It was my first trip out with her, so I was a little nervous, but we weren’t far from home,’ she said yesterday.
‘We’d just finished our shopping when I spotted my neighbour who had just finished her shift.’
The woman stopped to admire Elsie, then called over a friend shopping with her husband, saying: ‘Come and have a look at this beautiful baby!’
Instead, the man rushed over and allegedly landed a forceful punch on the tiny newborn. Miss Duckers, a carer, said: ‘The punch was that hard you could hear the connection as this man hit Elsie. We didn’t react at first as we were just so shocked.
‘Then I just screamed. He could eas- ily have killed her. I just can’t believe it – especially as it was on a five-day-old baby.
‘My seven-year- old was there and saw everything, and she was just screaming. She thought he’d killed the baby. He left her with a huge red mark and we at first Supermarket horror: Sister Libby, seven, saw alleged attack 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.’ She said the shopper sud- denly seemed to come to his senses and admit what he had done when he saw the mark on her face.
‘He started being really apologetic, and saying he thought Elsie was just a doll,’ she added. ‘I just wanted to get my baby checked, and get my kids away.’ Elsie was rushed to Wythenshawe Hospital after Monday’s incident, and was kept in from 9pm to 4am the following day.
Fortunately, there was no serious damage. ‘I don’t want anyone to touch Elsie ever again,’ said her mother. ‘I literally can’t get my head around why someone would do this.
‘It was the first time I’d taken Elsie out. Now I’m too frightened to take her out again.’
Details first emerged on Facebook when Miss Duckers posted: ‘ No one can get their head around why this was done. Thank you so much to Baguley Tesco for all you did tonight, you were all amazing.’
Last night police charged a 63year-old man with assault.
David Hardy, of Baguley, was released on bail to appear in court next month.
A Tesco spokesman said: ‘ We were deeply shocked and saddened to hear about this traumatic incident and our thoughts are with baby Elsie, Amy and her family. We’re grateful for Amy’s kind comments about our colleagues who we commend for their actions.’