Officers continue to investigate racial hate crime and assault

Officers from Staffordshire Police are continuing to investigate a racial hate crime and assault which took place in Newcastle last week.

Police were called at called at 4.49pm on Friday (17 December) to Brunswick Street following reports of violence.

Officers were informed that three males had approached the lone male victim on Borough Road at 4.45pm, before one of the offenders headbutted him in an unprovoked attack.

All three suspects then departed in the direction of the town centre via the subway.

The offender who attacked the victim is described as white, about 6ft in height, of stocky build with dark hair and a beard, wearing a black puffa jacket and a black and white-patterned shirt and jeans.

Lord Mayor of Stoke-on-Trent, Councillor Dr. Chandra Kanneganti, said: “I support the police in their efforts to identify these violent offenders.

“Racially-motivated offences have no place in the diverse communities of Stoke-on-Trent and I would encourage anyone with information relating to this attack to get in touch with police.”

Staffordshire Police Assistant Chief Constable, Jennie Mattinson, said: “We as a force have a zero-tolerance approach towards hate crime of any kind.

“We take any reports of racially-motivated crime extremely seriously and we are doing all we can to ensure that everyone who lives and works in our region are safe to go about their daily lives without fear of physical or verbal abuse.”

Anyone who saw what happened or who may have dashcam or CCTV footage of the area at the time of the assault should contact Staffordshire Police on Facebook, Twitter, or call 101, quoting incident number 539 of 17 December.