Teenagers slashed and racially abused by a white man in the street

One of the victims confronted the white man as he hurled racist abuse but he quickly pulled a knife and attacked them

By Edward Era Barbacena

Two teenagers were racially abused and then slashed by a stranger in a violent hate crime.

The victims, aged 17 and 18, were on Fell Street in Kensington, at around 8pm on Monday, June 27, when a stranger approached them and started to shout racial abuse at them. One of the teens shouted back and the suspect then slashed him in the neck with a knife.

The second teenager rushed to help his friend and was also slashed in the arm. Both victims required hospital treatment for their injuries but they are not believed to be life threatening.

Merseyside police believe the suspect then ran off in the direction of Holt Road. Officers are treating the incident as a hate crime.

An investigation is underway and CCTV and witness enquiries were carried out in the local area. The force have issued an image of a man who we believe could assist with their investigation.

Detective Inspector Alan Nuttall said: "This was a totally unprovoked and shocking racially aggravated assault on two young men simply going about their business. I would appeal to anyone who was in the area of Fell Street on Monday evening who saw or heard anything to contact us as a matter of urgency.

"Similarly I would ask anyone who recognises the male in the CCTV, or the male himself, to come forward as they may have information which is vital to our investigation. It is completely and utterly unacceptable for anyone to be subject to verbal and physical racial abuse and we simply will not tolerate people being targeted in this way. We are working to find the person responsible and bring them to justice.

"We think the man pictured may hold vital information so I would encourage him, or anyone who recognises him, to come forward as soon as possible so that we can take positive action."