Horsefair Street, leicester, 'racially motivated' attacks

Two men needed hospital treatment for head injuries after what police believe was a racially motivated attack.

The assault, which officers described as "serious", took place at about 2.45am yesterday in Horsefair Street, in the city centre.

Scenes-of-crimes officers cordoned off the scene of the attacks, in Horsefair Street, Leicester, where two teenagers were hurt

Three teenagers have been arrested in connection with the incident but police suspect more people may have been involved in the fight.

An area of the street outside the Bank of India and Londis remained cordoned off by police until yesterday evening while forensics teams inspected the scene. Blood was visible underneath a protective sheet and scenes-of-crime investigators had placed numbered cones inside the cordon.

Jehanzeb Khan, who runs the Londis shop, said forensics teams were already inspecting the scene when he arrived at work at 6.30am.

He said: "My shop window has been smashed as a result of this fight and I can't open up.

"You can clearly see blood so it must have been pretty bad. It's shocking that people can act like this."

Both of the injured men are 19 years old.

One was discharged from Leicester Royal Infirmary yesterday morning, while the other, who had slightly more serious injuries, was released in the afternoon.

A police spokesman said they believed the attack to be racially motivated.

However, they would not confirm the races of the victims.

A taxi driver at the scene yesterday morning said: "I wasn't working when it happened but I have heard from some of the other drivers who thought the person had been killed.

"They said they had heard there was a fight involving a few people and one of them had been really badly beaten up."

Craig Sheron, 23, from Braunstone, said: "People have been saying all kinds of things.

"It's awful. You can see the blood still and that's with the police trying to cover it up. It could be much worse."

Detective Inspector Tony Yarwood, from the city's Serious Crime Team, said "This was a nasty attack on these two victims. This is something that Leicestershire Constabulary will not tolerate."

Anyone with information should contact police on 0116 222 2222.