An “extremely disturbing” video of a man nibbling a young boy’s ear live on television is being investigated by police after people raised concerns online.
The pair were spotted in the background during coverage of the World Snooker Championships in Sheffield. In the video, which the Mirror has chosen not to share, Stephen Hendry is filmed discussing an ongoing match during a break in play as the pair can be seen over his left shoulder.
In a scene which gave people “the creeps”, the man is seen looming over the boy’s face where he seems to be saying something, before gently nibbling on his earlobe. The boy seemed unfazed by the strange move and, when they realised the camera was on them, they both smiled and started waving.
The weird encounter was shared widely online, with South Yorkshire Police confirming it is looking into it. A spokesman said: “Yesterday, Thursday 25 April at 9.20pm, we received a call to inform us of a video circulating on social media of a man and a boy at the Crucible in Sheffield. We are aware of the footage and officers will be reviewing the content.”
Several people shared their concern at the scenes. One said online: “Please do whatever you can to investigate this.” Another added: “This is totally disgusting... Hopefully something will be done regarding this asap.”
Another answered: “You can tell the child is uncomfortable." Another disturbed onlooker said to South Yorkshire Police: “It's all well and good saying you've received reports but are you going to act on those reports. Surely you can't think that's normal behaviour towards a child, even if it was his child?”