Man arrested following hate crimes in Liverpool City Centre

We have arrested a man following two separate hate crime incidents in Liverpool City Centre. 

At around 10am on Wednesday 20 April, it was reported that a male teenager was approached by an unknown man on Park Lane, near to the mini roundabout going towards Jamaica Street.  

It was reported that the man kicked one of his crutches, directed insulting comments towards him about his disability, and threatened violence towards him. 

The victim was uninjured but left shaken by the incident. 

In a separate incident, at around 4.30pm on Tuesday 24 May, it was reported that a man directed racial slurs towards a member of staff at a shop on Church Street. 

It was further reported that he attempted to assault members of staff and threw a drink at them before being escorted out by security staff. 

Following extensive police enquiries, including a CCTV appeal where members of the public came forward with information, a 31-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of Section 39 Assault Aggravated by Disability, Racially Aggravated Public Order and Criminal Damage. 

He was taken into custody for questioning by police and has since been bailed with conditions. 

Detective Inspector Steve O’Neill said: “This arrest shows that we will simply not tolerate such appalling hate crimes on the streets of Merseyside. We’d like to thank the members of the public who came forward with information so that we could progress our enquiries and make an arrest. 

“Merseyside is a friendly, welcoming place, and we know that the overwhelming majority of people would be disgusted by these incidents. I’d like to reassure our communities that we take such incidents extremely seriously and work tirelessly to find those responsible and bring them to justice. 

“I’d urge anyone who has been a victim of hate crime anywhere on Merseyside, or has any information, to come forward and report it. Whether you come to us directly or anonymously, through Crimestoppers or a third party, let us know and we will take action.” 

Anyone with information on either incident is asked to contact Merseyside Police social media desk via Twitter @MerPolCC or Facebook Merseyside Police Contact Centre with reference 22000272119 (Park Street) and reference 22000358292 (Church Street). You can also call 101 or contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously, on 0800 555 111 or via their online form at: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/give-information.

If, for any reason, you do not wish to report a hate crime to the police, the independent charity Stop Hate UK to run a 24/7 confidential helpline for all victims of hate crime on 0800 138 1625 or www.stophateuk.org. You can also download the Stop Hate UK reporting app on Google Play or the Apple App Store.

Across Merseyside, we also have a number of third party reporting centres including fire stations, citizens advice bureaus and hospitals. A list of locations can be viewed here: merseyside-third-party-hate-crime-reporting-centres.pdf