Police said they are keen to speak with members of the public who intervened in the assault
Stock image of the New Lodge Road(Image: Google)
A man was attacked while out walking with a friend in North Belfast in an incident police are treating as a racially-motivated hate crime.
At around 6.30pm on Monday, June 29, the man had been walking in the New Lodge Road area. It was reported that a group of teenage boys approached the man and started shouting at him.
Following this, one of the teenagers is reported to have punched him in the face and ran away. The other youths remained at the scene, shouting racial slurs towards the injured man and his friend.
Issuing an appeal for information, police said they are particuarly keen to speak with some members of the public who intervened.
PSNI Inspector Hamilton said: “We received a report at around 9pm that a man had been assaulted at approximately 6.30pm in the New Lodge Road area while out walking with his friend. It was reported that a group of teenage boys approached the man and started shouting at him, before one of the teenagers punched him in the face and ran away.
“The other youths remained at the scene, shouting racial slurs towards both the injured man and his friend.
“We would be keen to speak with some members of the public who intervened and chased these youths away, as well as assisting the injured man and his friend.
“The injured man subsequently attended hospital the following day.
“We’re treating this as a racially-motivated hate crime and our enquiries are ongoing. We would appeal to anyone who was in the area on Monday night, 29th June and saw what happened, or who has any information which may assist with our enquiries – including images or any video footage – to contact us using our witness appeal form at https://reporting.psni.police.uk/appeals, quoting reference 1845 of 29/06/26.”
Alternatively, you can call police on the 101 number or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or online at http://crimestoppers-uk.org/.
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