A man shouting racial slurs hurled a drink at shop workers in Liverpool city centre and tried to assault them.
Merseyside Police has arrested a 31-year-old man following two hate crimes in different parts of the city centre. The first incident took place on Wednesday, April 20, when it was reported that a teenage boy was approached by an unknown man on Park Lane near to the mini roundabout going towards Jamaica Street.
The teenager's mum, Sandra Heap, previously spoke to the ECHO about the incident involving her son Elliott Heap, who was travelling to his GCSE revision class at Liverpool Life Sciences UTC when a man accused him of faking his disability. Police said the man kicked one of Elliott's crutches, directed insulting comments towards him about his disability, and threatened violence towards him.
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Elliot was uninjured but left shaken by the incident. Sandra, 54, told the ECHO: "He was just walking through on his way to UTC and this gentleman suddenly started shouting at him saying 'you don't need those crutches.' Elliot carried on walking and the gentleman then chased at him, kicked one of the crutches out of his hand and then flew at him.
"I was shocked as I could hear the upset in his voice as he's describing what happened to him. He said what was more shocking to him was that he couldn't believe the hatred people have because of someone looking a little bit different."
In a separate incident, at around 4.30pm on Tuesday 24 May, Merseyside Police said it was reported that a man directed racial slurs towards a member of staff at a shop on Church Street. The man tried to assault members of staff and threw a drink at them before being escorted out of the shop by security staff.
Police issued a CCTV appeal last month where members of the public came forward with information. They have since arrested a 31-year-old man 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's 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.
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