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This is the shocking moment that a woman grabbed hold of a baby’s neck and said ‘that baby would rather be dead’.

The woman, believed to be in her 60s, walked into Boots on The Strand in central London where the one-year-old boy’s mother pushed her away.

CCTV shows her walking calmly through the shop on January 16, but a security guard appears to have suspicions as he follows her through the store.

The mother managed to pull the woman’s arm away from her baby’s throat (Picture: Met Police)

Police want to speak to this woman over the incident (Picture: Met Police)

At first the mother thought the woman was going to make a fuss over her child (Picture: Met Police)

Thankfully, the boy was not injured because of the mother’s quick reaction and the woman was escorted out by the security guard.


She is described as a white woman, aged in her early 60s, chubby, with light hair and a boil or eye deformity on her face.



The woman, who is thought to be around 5ft 2ins tall, was dressed in a white, red and grey striped poncho and wore a deer stalker hat.

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The woman was swiftly marched out of the shop by a security guard (Picture: Met Police)

Police said the mother, who was looking at something on a shelf when the woman approached, initially thought she was ‘going to just look and fuss over her baby’ but she is seen quickly grabbing the woman’s hand and moving the pram away from her.

They added that the mother had been left extremely shaken up and traumatised after the incident.

Anyone with information is asked to call 101 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.