Girl in pushchair hit by firework thrown by yobs throughout Bonfire Night chaos

A little girl was left screaming in terror and pain when thugs lobbed a firework at her pushchair as her family headed to a Bonfire Night display.

Three-year-old Nevaeh Porter-Baggott narrowly avoided serious harm in the mindless assault, which unfolded as a mob of yobs wreaked havoc across North Shields’ Meadow Well estate last night (November 5).

Frightening scenes erupted as the hooded gang hurled fireworks and ignited fires near residential properties.

What was meant to be an enjoyable evening out for Nevaeh’s family quickly descended into nightmare when they found themselves trapped in the chaos and a firework detonated beneath the toddler’s buggy.

Speaking today (November 6), Nevaeh’s mum Freya Keenan has recounted their harrowing experience, expressing her fury at the louts who could have severely injured her daughter, reports Chronicle Live.

The 20-year-old declared: “She’s been extremely lucky. I want to kill them. I want something done about them, I want them removed from Meadow Well. I want to be able to go home and feel safe.”

Freya, Nevaeh and the youngster’s father Dane Porter Baggott, 24, departed their Meadow Well residence at approximately 5.45pm to head to a local organised display, which was intended to be Nevaeh’s first proper Bonfire Night experience.

However, they quickly encountered the troublemakers on Avon Avenue. “We were just leaving home to go to a display and there’s been about 60 of them throwing fireworks all over the place,” Freya recounted.

“It was terrifying. There’s a massive group of them that roam round Meadow Well ranging from about 15 to 25 years old. These are people with kids themselves.”

Freya had hoped that the group would cease their reckless firework antics once they noticed her family passing by, but they persisted and even launched one firework directly at Neveah.

“The thing is we know a couple of them,” she admitted. “We were expecting them to realise it was us and stop because I had my bairn with us, but they never stopped and they threw a firework at her and it exploded under the pram.”

Upon realising the danger, they immediately fled the scene.

“It was all happening so quick. We were literally surrounded in fireworks, there were literally going off everywhere we looked. We were all running away, absolutely terrified, and she’s screaming,” Freya described. “There was nothing we could do.”

Initially, Freya, who is 15 weeks pregnant with her second child, didn’t realise her daughter had been injured. However, once they reached the safety of their home, she discovered that her little girl had sustained injuries.

“We went straight back home. I gave her a cuddle and she smelt of fireworks. At first I wasn’t sure if she had been hit or not. I couldn’t tell if it was a burn straight away,” she said.

“She started screaming and that’s when I noticed. She had red marks on her hands, red marks on her face and a burn under her ear.”

Nevaeh’s mum and dad rushed her to North Tyneside General Hospital, though the family were then transferred to the specialist burns unit at Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary.

Fortunately, doctors found the little girl hadn’t sustained serious harm and her hearing remained unaffected, allowing her to return home once her injuries had been treated.

However, Freya revealed her daughter continues to be deeply affected by the terrifying ordeal.

“She was scared to go home,” Freya explained. “She was jumping at every noise. This was her first experience of Bonfire Night. She was absolutely buzzing to go out and see the fireworks.”

Northumbria Police has been contacted for comment.

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