Man coughed on Muslim family on shopping trip in Leeds city centre and said 'there you go'

A man, his pregnant wife - who was wearing a hijab - and their child were shopping in Leeds on the afternoon of Monday, September 21, just days before local lockdown restrictions were imposed on the city.

The family believe they were targeted due to their ethnicity, according to Tell MAMA, an organisation which records anti-Muslim incidents and supports victims of Islamophobia.

A family member told Tell MAMA how the man singled them out, having walked from a distance - identifying them by their South Asian ethnicity and the woman's religious clothing - before stopping to cough on them and then walking away.

No family member has since reported any coronavirus symptoms, but they are concerned the perpetrator will continue to target others unless he is caught.

They described the perpetrator as being a white man in his mid-to-late forties or early fifties, and said he carried a bottle of what they believed to be alcohol.

A report has been filed to West Yorkshire Police.

A spokesperson said: "As a force we employ dedicated hate crime coordinators across districts in order to assist investigating officers in identifying perpetrators, providing after care support for victims and to increase awareness of hate crime.

"We work closely with local councils, victim support and the numerous community based West Yorkshire third party hate incident reporting centres to ensure that victims, witnesses and other affected parties are support and have the opportunity to report incidents in an alternative location to a police station.

"If you have experienced hate crime or an incident then please report it in any way you feel comfortable.

"By the police being made aware of an incident, we can deal with it and potentially prevent the same thing happening to someone else."

Anyone with information should contact police on 101.

Information can also be given anonymously to the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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