The mother of a baby boy seriously scalded in a Brisbane park says she had only been there 10 minutes when a man came up behind her and poured hot coffee from a Thermos on her son. The woman, who requested her name not be published, chose to speak from her son’s hospital bedside to help police catch the attacker. The baby boy was seriously burnt when an unknown man threw hot coffee over him at a Brisbane park.
Credit: Go Fund Me “It was out of nowhere ...
I don’t even know who he is or why this happened,” she said . “I want this man caught and charged. He’s out on the loose.
“I’m anxious and worried that he’s going to hurt someone else again, or hurt us again.” On Thursday morning, police released more photos of a man they said may be able to help in the investigation. The woman was with her son and a friend and her infant at Hanlon Park in Stones Corner, on Brisbane’s southside, about midday on Tuesday when a man approached them.
“I was literally only at the park for 10 minutes before this man came up behind us and poured hot coffee all over [my son] from a Thermos and ran away,” she said. “I barely saw him. “If anyone has any footage from around that area or who knows him, or lives next door to him, or something, please just come forward .
.. I want this man caught.
” The baby was rushed to the Queensland Children’s Hospital with serious burns and later had surgery. “I’m not sure about the damages yet ..
. He’s going to have to keep going under surgery to have these bandages removed and his wounds cleaned every couple of days for the next couple of weeks,” the mother said. “They have to see how they’re going to heal, but the burns on his face and chest and back are severe.
The ones on his legs and arms are not as severe, they’re just kind of splatters. “We were all traumatised ..
. luckily [my son] is young and he probably won’t remember any of this, but we will, and this is something we’re going to have to carry forever. Police want to speak to this person after a Brisbane hot coffee attack on a baby.
“I’m not even sure how I’m going to ever go to a park or anywhere with [my son] feeling safe again. “You should be able to go to a park with your family, with your friends and have a good time without thinking something like this is going to happen.” CCTV footage shows a man running from the scene, wearing a black baseball hat with glasses.
He was described as being about 30 to 40 years old. “I’m very confident that if you’re looking at that footage and you know that person in there, you’re going to know who it is,” Brisbane Detective Inspector Paul Dalton said. He had a direct message for the attacker: “Quite simply, get some legal advice.
“Give yourself up, go to the police station. This is not going away, and we will keep going until we find [you].” Dalton described the attack as “completely unprovoked”.
The man was described as being 30 to 40 years old, of a proportionate build, with tanned skin. Credit: Queensland Police Service “As far as premeditation goes – I’ll be very careful of what I say here – what I will say from speaking to witnesses, that the actual act of pouring the liquid onto the child, we believe and we allege was a deliberate act,” he said. “It is callous and cowardly when you look at the circumstances, particularly for us, who are parents, going to a park on a beautiful winter’s day in Brisbane, enjoying your time with your baby, a friend and their baby, and to be approached like this and attacked in this way must be terrifying for that person.
“In 35 years of being a police officer, I’ve never come across a job where a child this young, in these circumstances, has been attacked. I can’t think of it. For me, it’s an incident that I’m not aware of happening.
” Dalton said there would be a high police presence in the Stones Corner area over the coming days to help other parents and their children feel safe. Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000..
