POLICE are appealing for witnesses and information following a racially-motivated assault in the New Lodge area of North Belfast on Monday (June 29).
A man was walking in the New Lodge Road area while out with his friend at around 6.30pm.
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.
Inspector Hamilton said: “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, June 29, 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 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/."
