White van driver pelted babies with eggs, prompting police appeal

Toddler and nine-month-old infant targeted in separate attacks minutes apart

Police have released an image of a white van sought in connection with two egg attacks in Worcester (West Mercia Police)

Police investigating a “senseless” attack in which eggs were thrown at a nine-month-old baby have appealed for help to identity a van driver.

West Mercia Police said officers were also probing a second incident in which a father was pelted with eggs while walking his 15-month-old daughter in a pushchair.

Detectives in Worcester initially believed the the first assault, on 2 September, was racially motivated. But the force said it was no longer treating the incident as a hate crime after the second attack was reported.

The nine-month-old baby suffered reddening to the face but was otherwise unharmed. Police said the baby’s mother was left shaken by the attack near Shrub Hill Retail Park at 11.30am.

The second victim, a man in his 30s, suffered minor injuries when he was struck by an egg in the stomach nearby a short time earlier.

Sergeant Paul Smith said: “We are continuing to appeal for witnesses and would particularly like to identify the owner of the white van pictured as we believe they may have vital information that could help with our enquiries.

“We will not tolerate senseless behaviour such as this and will continue to patrol the area to ensure incidents of this nature do not happen again.

“Although we are no longer treating this as a racially aggravated assault, we continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding both incidents and I would urge the owner of the white van or anyone with any information that could help with our enquiries to please get in touch.”

The force asked anyone who recognises the vehicle or has any information which could help the investigation to call 101.