Mum’s fury as stranger who punched five-day-old baby in Tesco is let off with just a FINE
THE mother of a five-day-old baby punched in the face by a stranger in Tesco said she is "totally p***ed off" after the attacker was let off with a fine today.
Company boss David Hardy, 63, was fined £900 and told to pay £100 compensation after the sickening assault on newborn Elsie Rose Temple in front of her horrified mum Amy Duckers.
He claimed he thought she was a doll when he suddenly reached into her carry cot and thumped her, leaving a red "fist mark" on her forehead.
The tot's grandad stormed out of court and yelled at the judge "f***ing joke mate" as grey-haired Hardy was spared jail at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court.
Security guards also reportedly had to be called after angry exchanges between baby Elsie's family and Hardy's supporters outside court.
Afterwards mum-of-two Amy, 27, told the Sun Online: "I'm absolutely appalled.
"The fact you can go and punch a five-day-old baby in the face and get a fine - it's absolutely disgusting.
"My whole family are very upset about the sentence. He (Hardy) acts like he's done nothing wrong.
"I just can't get my head round it. He could have killed my child or given her lasting damage, and all he gets is a £900 fine.
"He should have got a lot more. He's not even got community service or probation or a suspended sentence.
"I'm really, really, totally p***ed off. It's the justice system in this country."
She added: "I've been dreading giving evidence today to the point this morning I felt sick. It's been absolutely awful.
"When it's brought up again it makes me exhausted. It's sickening. It makes me feel sick to my stomach.
"I'm going to go home, close the curtains and give my two daughters a cuddle. Our family can now get past this and enjoy Christmas.
"He's got to walk around for the rest of his life with the label as someone who goes around punching babies in the face."
Earlier Amy told the court how her daughter Libby screamed "is she going to die?" after the sickening attack on her baby sister in the biscuit aisle of the Tesco store in Baguley, Manchester, on September 5.
The infant, weighing 6lb 12oz, was taken to hospital and discharged the next morning.
She suffered a red mark to her face, but was not seriously injured.
Manchester and Salford magistrates heard today how baby Elsie was asleep under a blanket in a car seat which was perched on a trolley, reports the .
Amy told the court she had seen a neighbour, who works at the supermarket, and she came over to look at the "beautiful baby".
She said that when her friend called a colleague and her partner over to see Elsie, the man "punched her in the face".
The family claim they had never seen their neighbour's colleague Elaine or her husband David Hardy before.
Amy said: “He’s rushed over. He didn’t even look at my pram. He’s kind of lashed out.
"I have just gone in complete shock and Julie (her neighbour) has looked at me and was like ‘has this just happened? Did that actually just happen?’
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"I can’t even tell you how I felt. I just went numb. I didn’t know what had just happened myself."
Elsie Rose cried out in pain after Hardy punched her - with her older sister Libby "screaming hysterically" asking her mum: "Is she going to die?"
Amy told the court she asked the defendant “why have you just done that?" and he replied "I didn’t’.”
The witness said she and her neighbour Julie "were arguing with him".
The newborn's dad Lewis Temple, who had been shopping in another aisle at the time, came back to find the chaotic situation and when he removed Elsie's hat she had a "fist mark on her forehead", the court heard.
Amy said: "It was really bizarre how he had approached without actually saying a word and then how he struck out without him looking in the pram to see what was in the car seat."
She continued: "He kind of acted as if he hadn’t done it at first.
"It was only when he saw the mark he admitted he had done it and then said he thought she was a doll."
The defendant is said to have told the mother: "I’m really really sorry. I thought she was a doll."
Hardy denied common assault but was found guilty by the court.
District Judge Sam Goozee blasted the defendant's claim he thought the baby was a doll as "implausible".
He said: “I’m satisfied so that I’m sure that at the point you struck out you did so with the intention and knowing Elsie was a baby, not a doll.”
Hardy was fined £900 and ordered to pay £100 compensation plus £500 costs.
He told the judge: "Thank you sir. I'm sorry sir."
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