A man who punched a new-born baby in the face in Tesco has insisted that he thought the five-day-old girl was 'a doll'.
David Hardy thumped Elsie Temple as she lay in her carry cot inside a shopping trolley in front of her mother, Amy Duckers, who looked on in horror.
The 63-year-old man, from Greater Manchester, attended court on Thursday.
Advert
His lawyer, Chris Fallows, told the Manchester magistrates court: "This is an extremely unusual case.
"This defendant (is) effectively a family man who has young children in the family and does not behave in a way that is suggested to this allegation."
Elsie's mother. Credit: Amy Duckers/Facebook
He added: "The crown suggest Mr Hardy deliberately punched a five-day-old baby to the face in a carry cot in a shopping trolley. The defendant says he believed - and this belief was prior to the incident - that he thought it was a doll."
Advert
The lawyer claimed Hardy's actions were 'bizarre' and said he had 'acted rather foolishly'. Oh yeah, no shit, pal.
Mr Fallows added: "After the incident the defendant, who has never been in trouble before, had news reporters arrive at his door. He was hung, drawn and quartered on social media and in the comments on news reports.
"It is conceded by the defendant that what occurred was unusual, bizarre and he acted rather foolishly. The prosecution suggest that this was intentional."
Hardy was bailed on condition he does not go to Tesco in Baguley and was told he cannot have unsupervised contact with children under the age of 18 or contact Elsie's parents.
Advert
Featured image credit: Facebook
Featured Image Credit: