Woman accused of PUNCHING toddler in Kmart will NOT face charges from police

UPDATE

Police will not lay charges against a woman who was accused of ramming her trolley into a toddler's head and punching him after he threw a "tantrum" at an Auckland Kmart store.

The little boy's mum, Rebecca, had been shopping for birthday presents on May 2 in Albany Mall when the woman, believed to be in her 60s, allegedly rammed her trolley into her 2-year-old son and then punched him, leaving a bump on his forehead.

Store cameras caught the whole incident on film as Rebecca was waiting in a long queue at the self-service check-out - while her son got bored and threw a tantrum.  

As she turned around, Rebecca said she saw a trolley rolling towards her son - who was standing in front of the cart.

A woman, who Rebecca estimated was in her 60s, was pushing the trolley as it hit her son's head.

"I either grabbed the trolley or grabbed their hand, I can't remember, and said 'Oi'," Rebecca told the NZ Herald.

The woman then allegedly started abusing her over her son's behaviour.

"She said 'Take him bloody home! Be quiet! I don't come here to listen to this!'"

Rebecca went through the footage with the store manager who called police but a police spokesman today said there was "insufficient evidence for the matter to proceed".

The evidence gathered was not regarded as sufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of conviction when presented in court, he said.

EARLIER:

A Kmart shopper is accused of ramming a toddler with a trolley and punching him in the head because he was having a tantrum.

Police are investigating an allegation of assault at the store in Westfield Albany in Auckland about midday yesterday. The woman is believed to be in her 60s and is unknown to the toddler and his family.

The boy’s mother said the woman allegedly rammed a trolley into her two-year-old son's head and punched him - leaving two large bumps on his forehead, according to the New Zealand Herald.

The incident was caught on the store's cameras.

The child's mother, Rebecca, was shopping for birthday present around midday yesterday with her three young sons, aged six, four and two.

The children had grown impatient as they waited in line to pay for the goods, and her youngest son's impatience turned into a full-blown tantrum.

"At first I was like, 'this is fine, we're going to meet Nana soon'” their mum said.

"Then I got to the [self-service] kiosk and I started scanning my products, and the tantrum got worse.

"He wouldn't usually behave like this, but I've got to admit - it was a really bad tantrum. Probably one of the worst I would have seen.

"I had my 2-year-old in my arms and was trying to scan my products with the other arm… it was getting quite bad."

As she turned around to put another item in the cart, she saw a trolley rolling towards her son - who was standing in front of the cart.

An older woman was pushing the trolley as it hit her son's head. The woman then started abusing her over her son's behaviour.

"She said 'Take him bloody home! Be quiet! I don't come here to listen to this!'."

Rebecca was in shock, and ended up going to Customer Services to report the incident and request that video footage of the incident be reviewed.

Later on, after she’d brought her children home, she received a chilling call from a Kmart manager.

"He said to me, 'I'm sorry to do this to you… but I feel it's the right thing to do'.

"'We've reviewed the video footage in detail and we can see that she has actually punched your son in the head with quite some force, when your back was turned'."

"My job is to protect my children. To know that someone has punched him in the head and I haven't reacted... he'll be like 'this is normal for people to do this to me'," she said.

A police spokesman confirmed they had been notified of an alleged assault and intend to follow up with the complainant.