A man has been arrested after a nine-year-old boy suffered life-changing injuries following a “random attack” in the street.
The boy was walking with his older brother in Peterborough when a man approached them and attacked the youngster on Saturday afternoon, Cambridgeshire Police said.
He suffered multiple wounds to his face and head and was rushed to hospital where he is in a stable condition.
A 24-year-old man from Peterborough was arrested on Saturday night on suspicion of assault causing grievous bodily harm.
Sergeant Jason Hancock said: “While this appears to be a random attack, we believe this was an isolated incident and have not received any further reports of this nature.”
Police were called by the ambulance service shortly before 3.30pm after the boy was assaulted in Peveril Road.
He was initially taken to Peterborough City Hospital before being transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge.
Cambridgeshire Police said the boy remains “in a stable condition but with life-changing injuries”.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact police.