Asian man's jaw broken in racially motivated attack in Rochdale

Reports from a leading Manchester newspaper have confirmed that a 27 year old Asian man was repeatedly kicked in the face by a group of up to eight youths who hurled racist abuse at the victim while they attacked him breaking his jaw. The attack happened in broad daylight in Church Street Rochdale on Monday.

The victim who has severe facial bruising in addition to a broken jaw is recovering in Rochdale infirmary. Police said a gang of between seven or eight hooded youths were involved in the attack at around 2.30pm on Monday. All hurled racial abuse at the victim as he was beaten.

They stopped short of causing further injury when a man passing by shouted at them. DC Heidi Edge, of Rochdale CID, called for the hero 'good Samaritan' who intervened to end the attack to come forward.

She said:

"This was a nasty racially-motivated assault and I would like to stress that we are taking this very seriously and doing everything we can to identify those responsible. There is a lot of work being done in our communities to tackle racism and violence and ensure Rochdale is a safe place to live and work.

"At that time of day, there may have been a lot of people who either witnessed this attack or who might have seen either the victim or a large group of youths hanging around the area."

The attack comes after a series of planned far right marches were banned recently by home secretary Theresa May.

By Richard Sudan