Man held for attack on newborn

Police have arrested a 63- year-old British man after a newborn baby was punched in the face in the middle of a Tesco supermarket by a shopper who claimed he had mistaken her for a toy doll.

Five-day-old Elsie Duckers was in her pram when she was approached by a man who overheard family friends saying: “Come and have a look at this beautiful baby.”

As the baby’s horrified mother looked on in shock, the man suddenly struck Elsie, recoiling when the infant burst into tears.

He then claimed he had thought the baby was not real and was a toy.

The infant was treated in hospital in Manchester for seven hours.

Amy Duckers, 27, has spoken out about Monday’s attack when she was shopping with the baby, daughter Libby, seven, and partner Lewis Temple, 24.

“The punch was that hard you could hear the connection as this man hit Elsie,” Duckers, a carer, said.

“It was the first time I’d taken Elsie out. Now I’m frightened to take her out again."

“I don’t want anyone to touch Elsie again. “I can’t get my head around why someone would do this.”