Witness appeal: CAA offers £5,000 reward for information leading to conviction after alleged assault in Manchester
Campaign Against Antisemitism is offering £5,000 for information leading to a conviction after an alleged assault in Manchester.
On Monday 3rd February, an identifiably Jewish man was walking in Exchange Square in Central Manchester. At approximately 13:30, Greater Manchester Police received reports of an assault. The incident has been recorded the incident as a hate crime.
Campaign Against Antisemitism has been supporting the victim. He told us that the alleged incident occurred on his way back from attending a prayer service.
“I was hurrying along checking my phone when I felt someone running up behind me,” he told us. “In the split second before, I gripped my phone tightly in case someone would try to grab it and did not have a chance to protect myself. I was then hit extremely forcefully with what felt like a bottle around the right side of my face, instantly shattering my glasses and knocking me off balance. I thought I could have been blinded in my right eye, put my hand to my eye and saw blood coming from the area.”
In a photo seen by Campaign Against Antisemitism, the victim’s eye is swollen shut and severely bruised.
“My immediate reaction was to get away before being further attacked, and I ran across the road to a crowd of people shouting for help,” he continued. “A couple of bystanders pointed out who had just attacked me and where he was heading, whereupon I followed with one of the members of the public. The assailant then jumped onto a nearby tram. I had just called 999 and told them I had been attacked and was visibly Jewish, and that the suspect was on a specific tram that was going to head off shortly. They told me not to get on the tram and they would follow it.”
However, the victim was not convinced that anyone at Victoria – the next tram station – had been alerted. He said the assailant got off the tram at the next stop and fled the scene, which has apparently been substantiated by subsequent CCTV footage.
The victim continued: “At that point, I was literally stood around on my own, no support and just waiting for help to arrive. I couldn’t see well. Police turned up within ten minutes to see me and I was treated by a paramedic who also arrived at the scene and flushed my eye with saline to wash away any fragments.”
One member of the public did get on the tram but returned to the site a short while later. He recounted to the victim the alleged attacker had shouted that he was “a murderer” and that he was “responsible for the war in Gaza”.
The victim said: “I didn’t get a clear view of the attacker given my glasses were smashed and I was in a daze and could not recall what he was shouting clearly. I was taken to the police station and gave a statement that took a couple of hours, which was still given whilst I was reeling from the blow. I then went to get scans of my eye for damage, as advised by the paramedic.”
He was informed that he had abrasions on his eye. He had also begun noting black dots in his vision, which still remain today.
“The bruising spread all around my eye and I sustained cuts to my upper cheek and side of my face,” he added. “I’ve since been to the GP for nausea and dizziness and a second scan of the eye. I’m apprehensive walking around and now get nervous anyone could attack me at any time. I remain very traumatised by what happened despite the physical injuries healing slowly.”
The victim said that now, his main concern is that it has been nearly two weeks since the alleged incident and the suspect remains unidentified.
Anyone with information should contact police on 101 quoting incident number 001613 of 03/02/2025 or e-mail us at [email protected].
Campaign Against Antisemitism’s analysis of Home Office statistics shows that an average of just under nine hate crimes are directed at Jews every single day in England and Wales, with Jews more than twelve times likelier to be targets of hate crimes than any other faith group.
