A mum says her young daughters were left crying and bleeding after a man kicked and pushed them in an unprovoked attack outside Tesco.
Charlene Brown was with her two daughters while taking out cash from a Tesco Express in Peckham Rye to buy them all a Chinese takeaway on March 31.
But to Charlene's horror, her two girls Azariah, eight, and six-year-old Kimoire were thrown to the floor while two men were "tussling" with each other outside the supermarket, reports MyLondon.
The mum-of-two claims the attacker, a 19-year-old man who is non-verbal and has disabilities, hit both of the youngsters as his significantly shorter carer struggled to restrain him.
After calling 999 the police rushed to the shop on Rye Lane and got there "very quickly", Charlene said.
Speaking to MyLondon, Charlene, who lives in Brockley, said: "My girls ran to me and screamed 'he pushed me' while crying hysterically. I went up to the men and screamed 'what’s going on? You’ve hurt my children'. He kicked Kimoire, then I realised that Azariah was crying and her nose was bleeding.
"A Tesco security guard asked us to come in the store so they could attend to my eldest daughters bleeding nose. The police arrived within seconds and eventually, they explained that because the attacker is autistic and non-verbal, that meant that an arrest could not be made."
Charlene, who works in a mental health inpatient ward at Lambeth Hospital, claims that both her daughters are "emotionally scarred" following the incident and that they are now too scared to leave the house.
She added: "I’m in the process of trying to arrange counselling as they’re having struggles with social spaces now. The worst part is nothing can be done. I think accountability should be taken somewhere. My children have been hurt and no one is responsible, which I think disgraceful."
Azariah and Kimoire are currently staying at their grandmother's house in Bedfordshire over the Easter break - and mum Charlene is glad that they are able to enjoy some downtime in a quieter area following the "unprovoked attack".
Now, the NHS worker is concerned "that the same thing could happen to a pregnant woman, or a baby", or another vulnerable person.
Charlene says she felt disheartened that no one stopped to check that her daughters were alright, other than two local schoolboys, even though "plenty of people" witnessed the incident. She added: "I just want to make the streets safe and if people are hurt someone needs to take accountability."
A Metropolitan Police spokesperson confirmed the incident took place. They said: "Police were called at around 4.55pm on Thursday, March 31, to a shop on Peckham Rye (SE22) following reports that a child had been pushed by a man. The girl fell to the ground and suffered minor injuries.
"Officers attended and detained a 19-year-old man who was with his carer. Due to his vulnerabilities, the man was not arrested. The circumstances were explained to the child’s mother. No further action will be taken."
