Racists use meat cleaver to slice man’s finger off

The 31-year-old Asian male victim was dropped off by a taxi to use the cash machine at the BP service station on Herringthorpe Valley Road at 6am on Saturday.

A police spokeswoman said: "The man was approached by two men and the victim was punched in the face several times."

The second man then used a meat cleaver to slice off the top of the victim’s left hand forefinger, a South Yorkshire Police spokeswoman added.

"The two men left the scene in a dark coloured vehicle."

The victim was taken to hospital for treatment where he remains in a stable condition.

The first man is described as white, of tall, slim build.

The victim was unable to provide a description of the second man.

Leading the investigation Det Insp Richard Partridge said: “This is an extremely nasty attack which appears to be unprovoked and is being treated as racially aggravated.

“A full investigation is underway and as well as reviewing CCTV, we have a team of detectives in the area and officers are supporting the victim.

“The incident is being taken extremely seriously and we can reassure members of the community that we are following a number of lines of enquiry to identify these offenders.

“If you were in the area at the time or saw or heard anything suspicious, please do contact police on 101 quoting incident 223 of today.

“We’d also like to speak to the driver of the taxi who dropped the victim off at the garage as they may hold vital information about the assault.”

You can also pass information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or email information to police via [email protected]