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A disgusting teenage yob attacked a three-year-old girl while she was walking with her dad by spitting in his hand and wiping it down her face.

Matt Batty, 28, was returning from the shops with his daughter Alice-Rose when the pair were targeted by a gang of four youths on bikes near their home in Darfield, Barnsley.

The group confronted the pair after Alice-Rose innocently told them to "go home" before one of them launched a disgusting attack on the toddler by wiping spit on her and saying "I've got corona".

Explaining the lead up to the attack, Mr Batty said: "We were walking back from the shops and my daughter saw these lads on their bikes and she said to me 'can I go out on my bike?'

"I said she couldn't because of the "nasty bugs" as that's how we've been explaining it to her and I said they shouldn't be out on their bikes.

"My daughter's a social butterfly so she said to them 'you need to go home boys because of the nasty bugs'.

"They all then sped round and started hurling abuse at us and I told them to calm it down because she's three years old - just leave it be.

"We carried on walking past these bollards and I heard them behind on their bikes. I heard this spitting noise and I thought 'are you joking me?'

"I felt something hit my back and then I saw one of them spit in his hand and wipe it down the side of my daughter's face and say 'I've got corona'."

If that was not enough, the group then decided to try and steal Mr Batty's shopping while his terrified daughter grabbed hold of his leg and cowered behind her father in fear of the boys.

"They tried nicking my shopping and I only had milk and sugar really in there," the dad-of-two said.

"I swung the bag round and they all rode off. My daughter was clinging onto the back of my legs."

(Image: Google Maps)

The attack happened around 3.30pm on Sunday, April 19, in Pinfold Lane.

After getting back home, a shaken Alice-Rose later broke down in tears from the trauma of what happened and she now feels uneasy about going outside in case the "nasty boys" return to attack her again.

Her dad said: "She was a bit shaken yesterday and when she went outside to play after it happened she started crying. She was scared and didn't want to go outside and said 'I don't want those nasty boys to get me'.

"That is when it really hit me and even when she was outside, she saw someone on a bike and she ran back inside so it has shaken her up."

Mrs Batty's wife and Alice-Rose's mum Katie, was also "fuming" when she heard about the attack on her daughter and the family have reported it to police who are investigating and reportedly taking the matter "very seriously".

"I can't thank them enough," Mr Batty said. "An officer came to the house and he said he would patrol around the area and said if he does see any groups of lads he will pull them over and have a word with them.

"He said if he sees anything suspicious he will put them in the back of the car because this is an assault and it's serious.

"They are treating it very seriously."

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Alice-Rose was also left reassured by the officer who visited the house and the generous youngster even gifted him one of her Easter eggs as a present.

Mr Batty says the family have already been deeply affected by coronavirus and he urged the boys responsible for the attack on his daughter to think long and hard about their actions and how they would like it if the tables were turned.

"It's not a joke or a laughing matter," he said. "People are dying from this and it's not funny.

"They need to grow up. How would they like it if one of us did it to them? How would they like it if I spat on my hand and hurled abuse at a three-year-old?

"It's not like she was aggressive and they should have just laughed it off. If this boy is willing to spit on his hand and wiped it down my daughter's face, what would happen if he did it to a pensioner or someone more vulnerable who couldn't defend themselves?"

What South Yorkshire Police say

A spokeswoman for South Yorkshire Police said: "Officers are investigating after a three-year-old girl and her dad were spat at during their daily exercise in Barnsley.

"It is reported that at around 3.30pm on Sunday 19 April the pair were walking along Pinfold Lane when they saw a group of four teenagers on bikes.

"When the child told the teenagers that they should go home, it is reported that one of them spat into his hand and wiped it on her face, saying he had Covid-19.

"The same teenager then spat towards the pair again before riding away with the rest of the group.

"If you have any information which could help please call 101 quoting incident number 519 of April 19."