Teenage girl beaten in nasty racist attack in Plymouth street
A YOUNG female Chinese student was beaten to the verge of unconsciousness in what police have described as a "blatant and nasty racist attack" in Plymouth city centre.
The 19-year-old victim told The Herald how she was set upon by a racist thug nearly twice her age in the shocking and vicious early hours assault.
A man yelled, 'Hey, Chinese!' at the lone international student before battering her several times in the face and stomach.
The teenager, who said she had been a victim of discriminatory abuse in the past, managed to break free from her attacker and run home.
But police are desperate for witnesses after she required hospital treatment for a badly bruised and swollen face. The Plymouth University student, who does not wish to be named, had been at a city nightclub with friends and was walking home alone through Armada Way when the attack happened.
She said she was speaking on her mobile phone when a man approached her aggressively, then physically assaulted her.
The young woman, a second-year biomedical science student, said: "I was walking along looking at the floor so I didn't really see much that was happening around me.
"Some guy just came up and said, 'Hey, Chinese!', then he punched me on the left side of my face.
"It was more than one punch. I actually blacked out for two seconds, and he punched my stomach right away.
"At that point I pushed him away and I ran to my place."
The young victim, who lives close to the scene of the attack, said she had been subjected to "a lot of discrimination" in the past, and had tried to ignore it.
But she added: "Afterwards, right away, I was really scared. I was freaked out.
"I'm lucky that he didn't break anything."
Det Con Louise Steele, of the police's diverse communities team, praised the student for coming forward.
"This is a blatant and nasty racist attack where a male has punched a lone female full in the face," she said.
"It's quite clear that she was targeted simply because she was Chinese.
"It is a really shocking, unprovoked attack; totally unacceptable and inexcusable."
The incident happened between 3am and 3.30am on Friday, in the garden area of Armada Way, north of Mayflower Street and near the Subway sandwich shop.
The attacker is thought to be abount 35 and 6ft tall, and was wearing light denim jeans and a grey hooded top.
Police are scouring CCTV footage and believe two females seen walking or running up Mayflower Street from Armada Way at around 3.10am may be able to provide vital evidence.
Officers are keen to hear from the pair, who they have stressed are not suspects.
Anybody with information is urged to call police on 101 or Crimestoppers, in confidence, on 0800 555111 quoting crime reference EC/12/1654.
40 Comments
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by RedApesRevolt
Friday, February 24 2012, 10:57PM
“This is just vile..what sort of person just punches someone in the face because of their race,ethnicity etc ?.In fact what sort of person punches a stranger in the face ? Racist attacks are becoming more frequent in Plymouth ..or at least are reported more frequently ..just one such attack is shocking but these seem to be happening with a high frequency .Such attacks are usually committed by ignorant,misguided wannabe hardmen ,who have to feel some sort of power over others.Most people from Plymouth hate this type of behaviour..and hate how it makes the city look in the eyes of the world.Good people have to speak up against this..if they don't then bad people win.”
by buster_cherry
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 9:30AM
“@Jeronimous First of all, using the "anti-racist is code for anti-white" copy-paste method makes you sound like a mindless drone. Second, I said that the ethnicity of a person is usually mentioned in news reports, even if they're white; they probably overlooked it this time. Third, I don't have a problem with people opposing racism of any kind, but making out that you're a victim on a report about someone who was racially assaulted is just disgusting.”
by boriscalling
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 8:36AM
“With the World Wide Web this awful story will travel throughout the world including China and Plymouth should hang its head in shame!
Let's hope the culprit is found soon and suffers exemplary punishment.”
by renegade2009
Tuesday, February 21 2012, 6:18AM
“find who did this then lock him up for a very long time ,,,, let the men in there give him a reception he never forget”
by boriscalling
Monday, February 20 2012, 10:51PM
“@nuyabc
Please read my comment to your fellow country person
Cantonmiao I do hope things get better for you and your studies in the UK and Plymouth”
by boriscalling
Monday, February 20 2012, 10:41PM
“@cantonmiao
Thank you for coming onto this website with your comments. The Chinese work ethic and lack of complaining when things are hard brings you great respect from many in the UK. Plymouth is lucky to have industrious people such as you. As you can see from the vast majority of the comments on the website, people deplore what happened to your fellow country person and we extend our good wishes and sympathy to her. Good luck with you time in the UK I hope your impression of us improves, there are still a lot of us who like to conform to your old fashioned view of what the UK is and what it stands for.”
by amylou83
Monday, February 20 2012, 10:01PM
“I never normally check this website, but thought i might check the local news tonight. I am digusted and ashamed to be a Plymouthian, 3 stories on the same page about racism in our city. I am was born and breed in Plymouth, but studied in Birmingham where all my family live a few years ago. After coming back home to Plymouth after my degree it was amazing to see how many people would share their nasty thoughts and opinions about the asian and black culture living up. It just shows how uneducated and mindless SOME of our city is! DISGUSTING AND YET NOTHING GETS PROPERLY DONE ABOUT IT!”
by cantonmiao
Monday, February 20 2012, 9:44PM
“as a under-grad student from china, uk disappoints me very much. before i came here for study, i thought uk is a elegant country, everyone here is gentle and kind. but the fact is people in uk keep complaining the reduction of benefit, endless strike and riot, i know the economy is not good here, but people are not thinking how to working hard to earn money, they just always complain can't find a job or the salary is too low, in fact they dont want to work and just want government to feed them. things are quite different in china. people working hard there tho they got very little, everybody thinking how to change their lives by their own hands, that's why so many chinese student come to uk for better education. so every time i saw uk's people complain the things and put all the reasons to the immigration, i wondered the thing will just become worse. tho i understand and somehow agree the policy that control the immigration. don't escape but face the problem.
p.s.go Office for National Statistics to check the percentage of the crime and unemployment benefit(Jobseekers' Allowance) applier of chinese, whose door to uk is closing due to the new immigration policy. and those from eastern europe, who's receiving warm welcome from the government. and even the native blonde people. i'm not the racist at all but when i saw the government change uk's immigration policy "in order to protect the native jobseeker", i think it's just a joke.”
by nuyabc
Monday, February 20 2012, 9:40PM
“Chinese people are shy. But we are so friendly with forigners in China, and this is what we get in return? National students leave far away from their be loved families to look for a better education and to experience a different culture of UK. I am a girl, and I have been threatened on the street once.Sextual abuse accured twice last year in the city I live. I feel scary and unhappy almost everyday when I am living here...”
by Chris75
Monday, February 20 2012, 8:43PM
“Thank goodness for people like 'crazypenguin' and 'legaltease' - maybe there is hope for Plymouth yet... I totally agree with the points you've both made. It's always so disturbing when just by pointing out that discrimination and racism IS still rife in the UK, (and definitely in Plymouth), there's always such an abusive and aggressive reaction.”