A man accused of plotting an acid attack on his three-year-old son in an attempt to discredit his estranged wife has told a court he was not involved and was shocked to be arrested.
The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, suffered serious burns to his face and arm at the Home Bargains store in Worcester in July last year.
A jury at Worcester crown court has been shown CCTV footage of the moment of the attack, and heard how the injured child screamed: “I hurt” after being struck.
Giving evidence in his defence for the first time on Thursday, the father was asked: “In July last year, did you arrange for acid to be thrown at your son?”
The father, standing in the witness box wearing a white shirt and jeans and speaking through a Dari (Afghan Persian) interpreter, said: “No, never.”
He told his barrister, Phil Bradley QC, he found out about the attack only when he was arrested at his home in Wolverhampton. Asked about his feelings on being detained, he told the jury: “I was very shocked.”
Bradley asked: “Had you any idea that little boy was going to be attacked?”
The father replied “no” and denied knowing anyone who might have been following his son with acid. He also denied telling his wife she had “humiliated” him after the couple split on a previous occasion in 2012, resulting in her leaving the family home with the children.
His barrister also asked him about an allegation his wife made to jurors during her evidence, when she claimed he had spoken to an imam about killing her and the children because she had left him. Asked if he had ever asked such a question, he replied: “No, I cannot even think of that.”
The 40-year-old, originally from Afghanistan, is charged with conspiring to throw sulphuric acid at the boy with intent to harm him.
He is on trial alongside Adam Cech, 27, Jan Dudi, 25, Martina Badiova, 22, all of Birmingham; Norbert Pulko, 22, Saied Hussini, 42, both from London and Jabar Paktia, 42, of Wolverhampton. They all deny the same charge.
When the clip of the attack from a Home Bargains shop camera was played to jurors last week, the boy’s father held a tissue to his face.
Opening the prosecution case, Jonathan Rees QC said the boy’s mother had driven to the store with her children at about 2pm to buy a party gift. CCTV, which has been played in court, showed her being followed by a silver Vauxhall Vectra, allegedly containing Cech, Dudi and Pulko.
At 2.13pm she and the children went inside the store, followed shortly after by three men, with shop CCTV apparently showing Cech approaching the victim.
The victim was standing with his sibling near a display of toy footballs when a man in a white T-shirt, identified in court as Cech, walked past the victim with his arm extended and an object in his hand.
As Cech exited the frame, the victim could be seen looking quickly back towards him before running to his mother nearby.
The boy suffered a 10cm burn to his left forearm, and a 3cm burn on his forehead, which needed specialist hospital treatment.
The crown has also claimed that Hussini, Pulko and Badiova were involved in an “aborted” attempt near a school eight days before the shop attack.
Jurors have also been told about messages from the victim’s father to Paktia after the attack, including one which read “Nailed It!”
The trial continues.
