An attack on two tourists in Belfast city centre on Tuesday night is being treated by police as a racially-motivated hate crime.
The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said its CCTV operators observed two men walking in the Royal Avenue area at about 11pm on Tuesday. The two men became victims of a “reportedly unprovoked” assault.
The police said the victims 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 immediate area and as such were able to attend the scene straight away,” the PSNI said.
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Two men, aged 34 and 28, and a 22-year-old woman, were arrested on suspicion of attempted grievous bodily harm, while a 38-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Belfast Area Commander, Chief Superintendent Jeremy Lindsay, said it was “shameful that visitors to Belfast should be subject to such an attack” and “thankfully, at this stage we don’t believe that the men sustained serious injury”.
He added: “We’re grateful that our CCTV operators saw this assault in progress and we were able to get officers to the scene very quickly.”
He said police patrols had recently been increased in Belfast city centre and police would “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,” he said.
“Police will robustly address any criminal activity and welcome the opportunity to engage with those who wish to tackle criminality in the local community.”
The police chief added “we would encourage anyone affected by any criminal activity to contact police in order to enable us to take action”.
