FIVE men will appear in court this morning charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm after a suspected acid attack on a three-year-old boy.
The 39-year-old from Wolverhampton, 41-year-old from Wolverhampton, 25-year-old from London, 26-year-old from London, and 22-year-old from London were all charged in connection with the alleged incident that occurred at 2.15pm on Saturday (July 21) at Home Bargains on Shrub Hill Retail Park, Tallow Hill, Worcester.
For legal reasons, the force has taken the decision not to name the defendants.
Following the incident the boy was taken to hospital with serious burns to his arm and face. He has since been discharged but the long-term implications of his injuries are unknown at this time.
West Mercia Police Chief Supt Mark Travis hailed the response to a public appeal for information as ‘fantastic’.
“This has been a shocking incident which we know has caused a great deal of concern in our community. I can reassure people Worcester remains a safe place to live and work and that such crimes remain thankfully extremely rare in our area,” he said.
“Our thoughts are with the little boy and his family at this time.”
“I would like to pay tribute to my officers, some of whom have worked for 24 hours without rest on this investigation and have done a thorough and painstaking job. The operation has been a great example of partnership work across this police force but also with other forces across the country.
