‘Shameful’ assault on tourists being investigated as race hate crime

An assault on two tourists in Belfast city centre is being investigated by police as a race hate crime.

Two men and two women were arrested after an alleged unprovoked assault on Tuesday.

Police CCTV operators saw two men, later established to be tourists visiting the area, walking in the Royal Avenue area at around 11pm when they were assaulted by two men and two women.

They were punched and kicked repeatedly, and later reported that they had also been subject to racist abuse.

Due to enhanced police patrols in the city centre, officers were in the area and were able to attend the scene straight away.

Two men aged 28 and 34 and a 22-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm. A 38-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Police said the matter is being treated as a racially motivated hate crime.

Belfast Area Commander Chief Superintendent Jeremy Lindsay said: “Thankfully, at this stage we don’t believe that the men sustained serious injury.

“We’re grateful that our CCTV operators saw this assault in progress and we were able to get officers to the scene very quickly.

“It’s shameful that visitors to Belfast should be subject to such an attack.”

He added: “We have recently increased our patrols in Belfast city centre and will continue to use these targeted patrols to help keep the city streets as safe as possible.

“We meet regularly with partner agencies, local representatives and members of the community and we remain committed to working alongside them to address community concerns, including anti-social behaviour and drugs criminality.

“Police will robustly address any criminal activity and welcome the opportunity to engage with those who wish to tackle criminality in the local community.

“We would encourage anyone affected by any criminal activity to contact police in order to enable us to take action.”