A woman who claimed she was subjected to a racist assault has been fined for wasting police time after CCTV enquiries showed she made up the attack. 

The 18-year-old reported being set upon by a man in New Street, near the Odeon cinema, at 7.30am on 23 November and punched in the face with such force it knocked her over. 

She suggested the assault was racially-motivated – triggered by the fact she wears a traditional Muslim head scarf – and that the incident left her afraid of walking alone in central Birmingham. 

Detectives trawled CCTV footage in and around New Street in a bid to identify an offender and accompanied the teenager on a walk through the city centre to help her pinpoint the offence location. 

But after monitoring her movements on cameras that captured her route along New Street they could find no evidence of the alleged attack. 

She was later handed a £90 fixed penalty ticket for wasting police time – a fine that’s since been paid. 

Birmingham Police Superintendent Andy Parsons said reports of such attacks are rigorously investigated…and any bogus accounts will be quickly uncovered. 

He added: “Detectives spent countless hours looking through footage from the network of city centre CCTV cameras in a bid to piece together what happened. 

“The footage shows her walking normally along New Street and at no stage does she appear in distress or seen reacting to anything...there is no evidence she was physically assaulted and she was given a penalty notice for wasting police time. 

“Hate crimes are taken very seriously: Birmingham is a multicultural city and everyone should be free to go about their lives without fear of being verbally or physically abused simply because of who they are. 

“But lying to the police is a serious offence – it can divert crucial police resources away from investigating real crimes and helping true victims – and will lead to a fine, caution or potentially a jail term for perverting the course of justice.”

For more information on hate crimes – including how to report incidents – visit www.report-it.org.uk