The squeezable bum-shaped toys on sale in Smyths Toys and targeted at an astonishingly young audience that have experts worried – and why one top cop’s verdict should worry all parents

In what has become a true race to the, well, bottom, currently sitting in Smyths Toys, somewhere between the Bratz dolls and Ziggy the Robo Dog, is Chester Cheeks, waiting for an enthusiastic squeeze.