Five Slovak, Afghan Men Charged After Alleged Acid Attack on Three-Year-Old Boy

A prison van is driven out of Westminster Magistrates Court in central London on June 18,
DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty

Five men have been charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm over a suspected acid attack on a three-year-old boy in the West Midlands region of England.

Adam Cech, 27, Jan Dudi, 25, and Norbert Pulko, 22, who are from Slovakia and live in Walthamstow, London, Afghan-national Jabar Paktia, 41, who lives in Wolverhampton, and an unnamed male aged 39 were all charged in connection with the alleged acid attack in Worcester, West Mercia Police confirmed Wednesday morning.

Initially, the force said that “for legal reasons” they had decided to not name the five male defendants, but following their appearance in court Wednesday afternoon, media released their names bar that of the 39-year-old man, the boy’s father, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The toddler was being pushed in a pram by his mother at a discount homewares store in the English cathedral city on Saturday when the incident took place and was taken to hospital and treated for serious burns to his arms and face.

The child was released from the hospital on Sunday, but the extent of the damage is not yet known.

First responders described the substance used as a “pungent pink chemical” which was either thrown or sprayed over the toddler in what police described as a “deliberate attack”.

Following the arrest of the 41-year-old on Tuesday, Detective Inspector Jim Bayliss said: “Our officers are continuing to work extremely hard on this investigation.

“At this time we believe this to be an isolated incident and there is not a wider risk to the public.”

All those charged appeared before Kidderminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

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