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Police investigate alleged racist abuse after video from Newcastle student halls emerges

Officers are appealing to the victims to come forward about the footage on Twitter

Eleanor Busby
Education Correspondent
Monday 04 March 2019 14:32 EST
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Video from Newcastle student halls emerges of people shouting 'racist' abuse

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Police are investigating an alleged racist incident in student halls in Newcastle after a video emerged of people using the N-word and telling others “you don’t belong here”.

Students allegedly shouted racial abuse at a group walking by halls in the city centre, which is shared by students from Northumbria University and the University of Newcastle, on Wednesday.

The police has launched an investigation after video footage was posted on Twitter showing a female shouting “you’re not from here”, “you don’t belong here” and “f*** off” at the group.

An unseen male can also be heard using the racial slur “n****r”, according to reports by The Tab.

It is unclear at this stage how many people were involved in the incident at Manor Bank halls and it is unclear whether the victims were students at either of the universities in Newcastle.

A spokesperson for Northumbria University said: “The university takes any allegation of hate crime very seriously. However, as this matter is currently under police investigation, we are unable to comment further at this stage.”

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “We are aware of the video in question and are continuing to work with the university to establish if any criminal offences have taken place.

“Some of those involved in the video have already been spoken to by officers but the victims have not yet reported the incident to police and we would encourage them to contact us on 101.

“There is absolutely no place for racial abuse in our society and it is something we will always take very seriously.”

A University of Newcastle spokesperson added that they also take the safety and wellbeing of students “very seriously”.

They said: “If any student feels that they have been the victim of a hate crime and wishes to make a police report we can provide them with appropriate practical and emotional support.”

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The alleged incident comes after The Independent revealed last year that the number of racist incidents in universities across the UK has surged by more than 60 per cent in two years.

In May last year, a law student who was captured on video making racist chants in student halls pleaded guilty to racially or religiously aggravated harassment.

Joe Tivnan, was made to pay £500 compensation to Nottingham Trent University student Rufaro Chisango after his racist chanting was described as “disgusting, shocking and disgraceful”.

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