Police are investigating an allegation of racist graffiti being daubed in white paint on a car in an affluent suburbs of Chester.
Cheshire Police believe the incident in Lime Grove, Hoole, near Alexandra Park, happened overnight on Thursday of last week.
The person who reported the incident to police, but does not wish to be named, has spoken with the victim. The witness said: “I was walking towards the park and I saw the car had white paint daubed on it with the word ‘nigga’. The ignoramus couldn’t even spell it right.
“Everyone is deeply shocked it’s happened. I saw the chap and he said “Everyone is making a fuss’. I said ‘We’re just looking out for you’. I have been here over 20 years and we have very little bother around here. It’s a very pleasant neighbourhood and everybody knows each other.”
PC Mark Evans of Cheshire Police said: “There was an incident reported to us last week involving the use of racial graffiti being placed on a motor vehicle. This is actually an on-going incident which is being investigated by one of our team.”
Due to the nature of the incident, PC Evans was unable to provide further information at this time.
Cheshire Police says hate crime like racism ‘inflicts a greater psychological distress on the victim than a non-bias crime’ and in some cases victims can suffer severe post traumatic stress symptoms such as depression, anxiety and anger. These are some of the many reasons that hate crime receives a different approach than other non hate motivated requests.
A police spokesman said: “We believe that everyone has the right to live without fear of abuse whether verbal, physical or sexual.
Individuals are also entitled to live in their homes without fearing damage to their property. We will support victims to report incidents to enable us to gather evidence of abuse and ultimately to allow the courts to prosecute the people responsible.”
Each Neighbourhood Policing Unit now includes a sergeant who acts as a single point of contact for hate crime. Victims are urged to call 101 or 999 in an emergency. Alternatively, email: hate.crime.reporting@cheshire.pnn.police.uk.
