A woman in her 60s has been kicked to the ground in an assault in West Belfast this evening.
Police say they are treating the incident as a racially motivated hate crime.
In a statement, the PSNI said they are “appealing for witnesses and information following the report of an assault on a woman aged in her 60’s in Divis Street, Belfast this evening, Tuesday, 1 September”.
They say that at around 5.15pm police “received a report that a woman had been assaulted by a man who had come up behind her and kicked her to the ground, where he kicked her again”.
The woman has been taken to hospital for treatment to her injuries.
A short time after the assault, police “arrested a 50-year-old man on suspicion of assault occasioning actual bodily harm”.
He remains in police custody at this time.
Sergeant McKinley said: “Police are treating this incident as a racially motivated hate crime.
“I would appeal to anyone who witnessed this incident or who has information to contact police at Woodbourne police station on the non-emergency number 101, quoting reference 1479 01/09/20, or submit a report online using our non-emergency reporting form via www.psni.police.uk/makeareport/.
“You can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 or online at crimestoppers-uk.org/.”
