SHOCKED shoppers watched in horror as a woman assaulted a three-year-old boy in Trowbridge town centre.

Magistrates in Trowbridge heard how 20-year-old Emma Bush smacked and slapped the child up to seven times.

The tot was pushed violently in the stomach, forcing him back into a pushchair, during the assault in Fore Street on February 23.

Bush, of Langford Road, Trowbridge, admitted a charge of common assault before magistrates on Thursday.

She faces the possibility of a prison sentence as magistrates asked for detailed reports to be prepared into the incident.

The three-year-old boy involved cannot be identified for legal reasons.

Prosecutor Anna Humphries said shoppers and onlookers stopped what they were doing and watched in disbelief as Bush started slapping the child.

Members of the public reported the incident to police and Bush was arrested and interviewed.

Miss Humphries said: "Several members of the public said they had seen her assaulting him in the street and they were concerned about the boy.

"She admitted having smacked his legs so hard six or seven times that her hands were throbbing afterwards.

"She pushed him in the stomach to make him sit down and shouted 'I don't care if you call the police, he's not my kid'.

Defence solicitor Richard Ellis made no comment on behalf of his client and said reports were needed from the probation service.

Bush was released on conditional bail and the case was adjourned until July 31 at North West Wiltshire Magistrates Court in Chippenham.