Boy, 4, has fractured skull after brick attack

A four-year-old boy was left in a pool of blood with part of his ear hanging off after he was tied to a tree and battered with a brick, his distraught family said today.

Relatives of Charlie Davis believe he could have been killed by a youth who dragged him off as he played near his home in Hull.

Mother Susan Davis was by her son's bed in hospital, where she was told the youngster had suffered a fractured skull in the incident.

Traumatised Charlie is expected to have plastic surgery to repair his damaged ear.

Mrs Davis said her son was playing near his home in the Hessle area of the city when he was snatched by a local youth, pulled 200 yards along a path and tied to a tree by a railway line.

He was discovered by a passing couple in a pool of blood.

Shock

Mrs Davis told the Yorkshire Post the family has been left in shock by the incident and are now waiting in hospital for scan results.

Charlie's 18-year-old sister Sammy described how the couple who found him carried him back covered in blood.

She told the paper: "Mum was screaming, she was in a really bad way.

"It's disgusting what has been done to him. It could have killed him."

She said her brother was so frightened by his ordeal he still cannot speak about it.

Sammy said Charlie was covered in bandages in hospital.

The family called the police after Charlie was found at lunchtime on Thursday. Humberside Police has described the attack as "totally unprovoked" and "particularly nasty".

Officers have appealed for witnesses to come forward.

No one from the force was available for comment today.