Polish Men Assaulted In Second Harlow Attack

4 September 2016, 17:39 | Updated: 4 September 2016, 17:42

Two Polish men have been attacked in Harlow, hours after a silent march was held in memory of a Polish man who was killed in the Essex town last month.

Witnesses say the victims, who are aged in their 30s, were assaulted by four or five men outside the William Aylmer pub in the early hours of Sunday morning.

One man was left with a cut to his head, while the other suffered a broken nose.

Essex Police are considering the "vicious and horrible attack" as a possible hate crime, but have stressed it is not being linked with the death of Arkadiusz Jozwik, known as Arek, on 27 August.

Mr Jozwik, 40, died from head injuries last Monday after he and his friend were attacked outside a takeaway in Harlow.

Six teenage boys were arrested on suspicion of murder and have been released on bail.

Following the latest attack, Supt Trevor Roe said: "I want to reassure the public and the community in Harlow we are treating this very seriously and do not tolerate assaults of any kind.

"There will be an increased number of visible policing patrols in Harlow to both reassure and protect the community."

Supt Roe has called for any witnesses to Sunday morning's assaults, which happened at 3.30am, to come forward - and said their information "may be vital in bringing the perpetrators to justice".

On Saturday, Poland's foreign minister had urged British authorities to keep its nationals safe from xenophobia, following a sharp increase in the number of hate crimes reported in the UK around the time of the EU referendum.

Recently released figures have shown a surge in suspected race hate crimes on the railway network since the vote for Brexit.

Following a meeting with his Polish counterpart in Warsaw, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said: "(There is) absolutely no place for xenophobia in our society.

"The Polish contribution to our society and our culture, and above all to our economy, is absolutely immense."

Hundreds of people - many of them Poles - had attended Saturday's vigil in Mr Jozwik's memory. Some sang the national anthem, and others laid flowers outside the building where the factory worker was killed.