Man due in court to face Whiteley hate crime charge

A man is due in court following an investigation into a hate crime in Whiteley.

Police received a report that a member of staff in Marks & Spencer, Whiteley Shopping Centre, was threatened with violence, assaulted, and racially abused on Tuesday 12 July 2022.

Following enquiries conducted by the Winchester Greater Neighbourhoods Policing Team, 51-year-old Mark Andrew Taylor, of Thorni Avenue in Fareham will appear at Portsmouth Magistrates’ Court tomorrow (Thursday 2 February) to face charges of racially aggravated assault by beating, and assault by beating.

A 41-year-old woman who was previously arrested as part of this investigation has been released with no further action.