Man arrested after alleged racist kicking attack on pregnant woman who later lost her baby

Police say the woman was rushed to hospital but doctors could not save her baby

A man has been arrested following an allegedly racially-motivated attack on a pregnant woman which caused her to lose her baby.

CCTV footage emerged which appeared to show a man verbally abusing a 34-year-old woman while shopping at a Co-op store in Bletchley, near Milton Keynes.

The unnamed woman ignored the man but was then followed to her car where the suspect kicked her repeatedly causing her to fall to the ground, at around 9.40pm on 6 August.

She was later rushed to hospital after sustaining kicks to the abdomen, but doctors were unable to save her baby.

A 40-year-old man was also hit on the head with a bag of ice and a bottle after he tried to help the woman.

Thames Valley Police confirmed a 37-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of racially aggravated assault and is currently being held in custody.

Speaking during an appeal for information in connection with the attack, PC Richard Armitage said: "This racially aggravated assault had absolutely devastating consequences for the victim, who lost her baby as a result of the attack.

"Our thoughts are with her and her family at this incredibly difficult and sad time."

Both victims have now been released from hospital.

It comes as the National Police Chiefs' Council confirmed a sustained increase in the recorded number of hate crimes following the vote to leave the European Union on 23 June.

The rise in post-Brexit hate crime reports peaked at nearly 60 per cent higher than the same point in 2015 in July and was still 14 per cent higher on the same point in 2015 during August.

Assistant Chief Constable Mark Hamilton, the council's lead on hate crime, said they treated hate crime as a "priority" and urged victims to come forward as "nobody should suffer in silence".

It came after a Polish man was murdered in a suspected racially-motivated hate crime at a pub in Harlow, Essex on 28 August.

The Polish Ambassador to the UK, Arkady Rzegocki, visited the town in the days following the death of Arkadiusz Jozwik and called it a "very important tragedy". He said his staff had dealt with "15 or 16 such situations" since the vote in June.