Charlotte Foster
Legal

Manhunt after stranger pours scalding hot coffee on baby in public park

Queensland Police have released footage of the man they believe burned a baby with a scalding hot drink in a public park. 

On Wednesday, the unknown man approached the family at Hanlon Park in Brisbane and poured hot coffee on the nine-month-old baby boy.

He was rushed to the Queensland Children’s Hospital with burns to his face, upper body and arms, with the burns covering 60 per cent of his body.

Queensland Police have now released CCTV footage from the area, showing a man running from the park.

He appears approximately 30 to 40 years old, with a proportionate build and tanned skin, and was wearing a black hat, glasses, a shirt and shorts.

Anyone who recognises the man has been urged to contact the police with information. 

An off-duty nurse heard the commotion in the park from the balcony of her apartment, telling 7News she went outside to investigate when she heard screaming. 

She said she heard the child’s mother yelling “my baby, my baby”.

The nurse rushed down to the park to help the boy, taking him to her nearby apartment where he was placed under a cold shower before paramedics arrived.

Locals told 7News the attack was “terrible” and they were shocked it had happened in their community.

“It’s really scary when you think that we haven’t got a community that looks after our young and vulnerable,” one woman said.

Image credits: Queensland Police

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legal, man, baby, burns