Student left with fractured cheekbone following Ross-on-Wye assault

4:57pm Thursday 24th January 2013 in News By Lydia Johnson

A GERMAN student had a cheekbone fractured in a potentially racially motivated attack.

The victim, on a work placement in Ross-on-Wye, was punched in the face in Broad Street in the town centre at 3am on Saturday.

Detective Inspector Martyn Barnes, of Herefordshire CID, said the seemingly random attack was believed to be racially motivated.

The suspect is a thin, blondehaired 18 to 21-year-old who was dressed in “dark clothing”.

Witnesses can contact Hereford CID on 0300 333 3000.

 

Comments(14)

Biomech says...
7:24pm Fri 25 Jan 13

Why was it racially motivated? Just because he wasn't British?
Pathetic.

Report this post »

WYSIATI says...
11:43pm Sat 26 Jan 13

biomech - it is possible that the police know something more than the HT published or even knew about. So why doubt it?

Personally I am sorry that the visitor from Germany had to deal with that - it doesn't reflect well on the county or the country. I wish him a speedy recovery and hope that his view of the place is not ruined.

Report this post »

Biomech says...
2:29am Sun 27 Jan 13

"So why doubt it?"

I doubt it because it's a flippant statement that has nothing to back it up :) Tomorrow they could say "Teacher slaps kid in sexually motivated paedophilia assault". You kind of need to back up statements - I feel the "investigative" part of journalism is somewhat lost on the HT 99% of the time.

Report this post »

mizza21 says...
10:04am Thu 31 Jan 13

I think the copper quoted in the err "piece" suggested it may be racially motivated and that is the justification for the HT printing it.
Perhaps something was said to the victim which makes it racially motivated but the cops do not wish to release exactly what was said other than the fact that it could have been racially motivated.
They say "could" because it may be that the attacker knew the attackee and wanted to deflect this by utttering some vile racial abuse.

Hope that helps.

Report this post »

Biomech says...
11:02am Thu 31 Jan 13

It seems the term racial abuse is banded about by everyone when the "victim" is non-white, English.

It's funny how people twist things in favour of the "victim" - remember that boy who was beaten to death at the Sainsbury's underpass? Well he attacked myself and friends once - unprovoked - as we walked through. Rumour has it he was far from the perfect student, socially speaking, at school as well.

Report this post »

mizza21 says...
12:17pm Thu 31 Jan 13

But what if there was some abuse directed at the attackee which was of a racist nature prior to the attack proper and indeed during the attack?

In this case the attackee has earned their victim status by dint of a broken jaw sustained during the attack.

I heard that too about the underpass boy.

That incident could have really damaged relations between the migrant Eastern European community who are so important to Herefordshire's economy and the indiginous layabouts who ponce off of the state.

Report this post »

mizza21 says...
2:39pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Is nobody going to react to my incendiary comments above ??

Report this post »

Interested Onlooker says...
2:41pm Thu 31 Jan 13

It's only a short report, so it cannot be that hard to understand, surely? A named officer clearly gives a direct statement that the attack was believed to be racially motivated.Isn't that clear enough or sufficient?

Yes, Biomech - of course when the police issue appeals for information they should give a verbatim account of every witness's statement, release every scrap of forensic evidence for publication and put any CCTV pictures online on this site, unedited.

No, never mind that that's not legally possible because it mucks up court procedures about disclosure of evidence, or subsequently exposes anyone involved to potential libel, or gives out indentification details of witnesses. Biomech is not bothered about any of that, as long as he can have a go at the Hereford Times for NOT breaking all sorts of laws.

Most newspapers don't seem to allow comments on news reports like this for the very reason they throw up all sorts of legal minefields. It's surprising the HT does but while it does so, readers really ought to stop and engage their brain for just a few seconds before posting.

Report this post »

mizza21 says...
3:40pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Blimey.
Bit harsh.

Report this post »

Biomech says...
3:54pm Thu 31 Jan 13

What are you on about. The Sun, The Mirror, The Daily Mail, The Times, The Independent ALL allow reader comments.

At lets start with "its a small report" - well it shouldn't be, this is supposed to be a news article, news articles require research, not flippant remarks.

And no, it's not clear enough, why is it believed to be a racist attack? Because the guy was German? Where is the basis for this comment? It's hearsay without anything to corroborate it.

It's this kind of social media "journalism" that lends itself to reprisal and public vigilantism. Now what if it was a Polish guy instead of a German, and all the Polish people read it and decided that this, unproven statement, was true.

You're right, people should engage their brains, the trouble is they don't - they look at things like this an immediately depend upon it as fact.

Now you've finished your lunch, I think you should go back to writing your latest piece for the HT.

Report this post »

mizza21 says...
4:16pm Thu 31 Jan 13

In fairness Biomech it does say " Detective Inspector Martyn Barnes, of Herefordshire CID, said the seemingly random attack was believed to be racially motivated. "
They are merely quoting or paraphrasing the cops.
He may not want to say WHY he beleives that which is what I think onlookers point is.

In your defence though it is an utterly crap peice of reporting.
Why is GERMAN in capitals and it's described as "potentially" racially motivated, not "suspected", which would be more accurate.

Four explosive sentences it would seem have unwittingly lit the blue touch paper.

Report this post »

Biomech says...
4:28pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Yeah I do get that, and the cops use it a lot. But I'm just getting really fed up with the way the HT news stories are basically tweets. That and the racial card being banded around by everyone for every little thing. Whenever a white English person is "seemingly random" attacked, there's no reference to racism.

To create an unbiased, unpropagandarated (do you like my new word) article, all it would take is for the reporter to have added "....in a potentially racially motivated attack... ".

Report this post »

Biomech says...
4:30pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Sorry, the comments process seems to strip out square brackets. That should read.. "seemingly random(ly)" attacked and; "....in a potentially racially motivated attack..(which has not be confirmed)"

Report this post »

mizza21 says...
4:58pm Thu 31 Jan 13

Possibly Biomech, or "suspected" could be used.

I suppose this is symptomatic of Herefordshire though.
Not a lot happens, which is why I like it here.

Unless they fill the site with opinion and lifestyle rubbish there's really not much to tell.

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree