England flags were damaged at Canoe Lake before being removed following racist attack, council confirm

They were placed on lampposts at the Southsea park where a man was punched in the head and verbally racially abused by a group of five or six men seen carrying flags.

As previously reported by The News, the incident happened on Sunday, September 21 at around 8pm where the victim, a man in his 30s, was knocked to the ground by the punch and was taken to hospital with minor injuries.

It coincided with the St George’s Cross flags being placed at Canoe Lake near to the Emmanuel Memorial where candles and an American flag were also placed for the murdered right-wing American activist Charlie Kirk. These were also subsequently removed.

A statement from Portsmouth City Council had said that while it was not removing flags as a matter of routine, it had removed these ones as a direct result of the racist attack.

It has since emerged that some of the removed flags had been damaged by a black dye, but the council has said this is not the reason for their removal and confirmed they were removed as a result of the racially aggravated assault, with the assailants seen carrying flags.

A previous council statement said: “The incident at Canoe Lake is very specific and therefore we have decided to remove the flags from this location. We can't ignore any activity that could be deemed to be condoning racist behaviour in our city.

“We will continue to take a measured approach to flags in other areas.”

Police are asking anyone with information about the attack in Southsea to call 101 quoting reference number 44250428088, or report online via https://www.hampshire.police.uk/tua/tell-us-about/cor/tell-us-about-existing-case-report/

Alternatively you can also call Crimestoppers, anonymously, on 0800 555 111, or by visiting their website https://crimestoppers-uk.org/.