Police statement on assault near bar in Pudsey town centre

The incident took place at around 10.10pm on Saturday close to B6154, Lowtown, in Pudsey town centre.

The group believes the attack was racially motivated with footage from the incident showing one man making slurs linked to slavery. 

Hayley Dunn, Shasa Cummings, and another friend decided to go for a spontaneous night out before the horrific incident unfolded.

It left Shasa with a badly bruised eye as well as cuts and grazes on her face, knees and fingers. 

Hayley, who has lived in Pudsey for over a decade, said: “It’s not somewhere I frequent really, I’m not really a big ‘out out’ person. I’m not really big on the social scene like that. My two friends had come here.

“It was a spur of the moment ‘let’s call in and have a drink at this bar over the road’.

“We’d been in there for about an hour. As we were leaving a group of young men started shouting, being abusive and rude. 

“We’ve responded which in hindsight, I wish we hadn’t. I’m struggling with it myself because there’s half of me I’m glad we stood up to them about it, but the other half of me is like, maybe we should have ignored it. But by ignoring these things it doesn’t go away. It shouldn’t be accepted anywhere in society.

“They were using the most disgusting racial slurs. My friend was telling them to **** off, I was like just leave it and they started spitting at my two friends, calling them the most disgusting racial slurs I’ve ever heard. 

“I’m shaking now even talking about it. 

“The spitting, that’s when it escalated. They kept coming forwards as if they were going to attack us. I looked round and saw Shasa getting punched down on the floor. It was absolutely horrendous. 

“Nobody seemed to step in and do anything about it.

“My friend’s rung the police. Shasa just panicked and jumped in a random taxi. The police came and we told them everything.

“They’ve gone in and spoken to them [the group and bar management]. They only have 40 seconds of CCTV footage.

Shasa Cummings was left with bruises, scratches and a black eye following the assault (Image: UGC)

“It was a horrible experience.”

The 34-year-old, who has three children with a mixed ethnic background, said: “It makes me question if this is the place I want to raise my kids.”

Meanwhile, Shasa, 28, described the mental toll of the attack. 

“It’s made me not want to go out at all now,” she said. 

“It's knocked my confidence, I didn't have much confidence before but this has made it worse.”

A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: “Police are appealing for witnesses following a report of an assault on a female in Pudsey on Saturday (25 February) evening. 

“The assault was reported to have taken place at around 10.10pm close to B6154, Lowtown.”

Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact police on 101, quoting crime reference 13230112743 or online at www.westyorkshire.police.uk/101livechat