Five children held over attempted murder of boy, 5
British detectives investigating the attempted murder of a five-year-old-boy who was found in woods with neck injuries were today questioning five children.
Officers were called to an area of Dewsbury in West Yorkshire where they found the young victim with injuries to his neck shortly after 6pm yesterday.
Four local children – two girls aged 11 and 12 and two boys aged 11 and 12 - were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, a West Yorkshire Police spokeswoman said.
Later, police confirmed a fifth child, a 12-year-old boy, had been arrested in connection with the incident.
Police were unable to confirm reports that the five-year-old sustained his injuries through being hanged.
A force spokeswoman said: “Inquiries are ongoing to ascertain how he came by his injuries.”
The young boy was taken to Dewsbury District Hospital, where he was treated overnight and has now been discharged.
Officers found the victim in the Chickenley area of Dewsbury, but it is understood he received the injuries in woods in the Earlsheaton area of the town.
Police said one of the children in custody was arrested last night and another three were arrested in the early hours of this morning.
A force spokesman said the incident happened in a wooded area to the rear of the Earlsheaton Medical Centre in Dewsbury.
At the scene today, no police or forensics officers were present and the area, which backs on to parkland, was not cordoned off.
Residents at houses on quiet estates surrounding the grassed area said they had seen nothing last night.
Several paths through the wooded area were marked by patches of flattened grass, some of which opened up into den-like areas.
In one of these areas, which was covered by trees and out of view of the road, rubbish littered the ground.
The father of one of the 12-year-old boys who was arrested declined to comment at his home in Dewsbury.
But he confirmed his son had been arrested and taken to a police station for questioning.
One woman who was walking her dog close to the wooded area today said there were always children out playing on the fields.
Margaret King, 46, of Savile Town, Dewsbury, said: “There’s always children playing around here, especially during the school holidays.
“I know some of the people who live round here have had problems with them because some of their houses are very close to the edge of the field, but they’ve got to play somewhere, haven’t they?”
This afternoon, several small groups of children stood around in the rain, many smoking, on the edge of the woods.
