Maajid Nawaz Attack: Police Release CCTV After Racist Assault In London
19 March 2019, 13:25 | Updated: 19 March 2019, 18:39
The Met Police have released a CCTV image of the person they want to speak to in connection with the racially aggravated assault on Maajid Nawaz.
The LBC presenter needed hospital treatment after being attacked by a man, who called him a "f****** paki" outside the Soho Theatre on Dean Street on Monday 18th February at 7.10pm.
As Maajid bent over to pick up his phone and credit cards, the man attacked him, punching him with an object in his hands, possibly a signet ring or a key between his fingers.
The attack was caught on CCTV and today, police released an image of a man they want to speak to about the incident.
Speaking to Nick Ferrari a couple of days after the attack, he said: "It all happened so quickly. I went to get cash from a cash machine and left my friends in a bar. This man walked past me and I heard him racially abuse an east Asian family in a restaurant, he was mocking the fact they weren't English.
"I was shocked I heard this in Soho, so I asked him why he's being racist. Immediately, he turned to me and started coming up too close to my face and said he's going to burn my eyes out, which was a very strange thing to say.
"I thought he was about to attack me, so I did what I have done once before when Jihadists had done this to me, I pulled my phone out to record him so that it would act as a deterrent, knowing he's on my phone.
"Before I could hit record with my phone, he swatted the phone out of my hand and it went flying to the floor. All of my cards are kept in the back of my phone, so I had a choice to make. Do I retrieve my phone or watch out for if this man attacks me?
"Then fate struck. A homeless person ran for my phone, so I thought I'm either going to get mugged or beaten up. So I bent down to grab my phone and cards, which had spilt over the floor, and as I was crouched down, without warning, he ran up from behind and upper-cutted me to the face in the forehead and hit me with some form of object in his hand. I assumed it was a signet ring, but the police said it might have been a key that he put between his knuckles.
"The next thing I know is that he's run away after calling me a "f****** paki". I put my hand on my head, I'd fallen back and there was blood everywhere."
The Met Police ask that if you recognise the man, please call 101 or contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
