Man accused of pouring hot coffee on baby in random attack has fled the country, police say

A man accused of pouring burning coffee on a baby boy in a horror attack has fled the country, police claim. The nine-month-old boy was injured on August 27 when while having a picnic with his mother at a Brisbane park. The man allegedly came up to the boy and poured the thermos of hot coffee on the child, burning his face and chest. On Monday Queensland Police said the 33-year-old man accused of the attack has been identified but has fled the country. He travelled by car to NSW on August 28 before flying out of Sydney Airport on AUgust 31, police have said. A warrant has been put out for his arrest. Brisbane Detective Inspector Paul Dalton said investigation was one of the most “complex and frustrating” he had been involved in. Inspector Dalton said the accused was “aware of police methodologies” and was “conducting counter-surveillance activities”. He said the foreign national has been travelling in and out of Australia since 2019 on both working and holiday visas. “It wasn’t until September 1 that we were able to put a name to the face in the CCTV,” Inspector Dalton said. The boy’s devastated mother has provided updates to her social media pages, telling her followers the young boy underwent three surgeries as a result of his injuries. “He has been incredibly resilient. He’s up and about, walking and causing chaos. He is such a strong little boy and we are so-so proud of him,” she said a week after the attack. The boy suffered serious burns, and the injuries to neck and chest were likely to scar. The family expects the nine-month-old may need a skin graft. Shortly after the news the man had fled the country, she took to Instagram to say the 33-year-old foreign national “knew exactly what he was doing” when he chose two vulnerable women at a park to attack. “As a result of the attack, fear will continue to surround me daily... Months of recovery will continue for my son,” the mother wrote. “Constant questions eating away at me, Why? WHy him? Why not me? Why an innocent defenceless baby.” She said the attack has changed her family’s lives and destroyed her mental health “for years to come”. “It has ripped this part of motherhood - a happy joyful time - from beneath me,” she said. The mother said the past weeks have been immensely hard for her family, who have had minimal updates from police to avoid impeding the investigation. But she says the family was also informed on Monday that the 33-year-old fled the country within days after the incident. “Within a matter of days of the attack, he had already fled the country and actively avoided police tactics to track him down,” she wrote. “I’ve lived in constant fear for two weeks that he might attack us again. I had no idea what this man was capable of, the anxiety has been extreme.” She said she has been walking on eggshells and is too scared to leave the hospital. While the mother said she feels some comfort in knowing he is no longer in the country, she says there is an “excrutiating amount of anger” about the fact he won’t be apprehended. “We now have to wait weeks, months or even years until justice is served for our boy.”