Woman charged after string of attacks on Chinese students in Sheffield

Shan He accused of hitting nine victims over head - some with a blunt instrument

University of Sheffield (Getty Images)

A woman has been charged with causing actual bodily harm after nine Chinese students were hit over the head in a string of attacks in Sheffield.

Shan He, 33, will appear at the city’s magistrates court on Wednesday accused of assaulting her victims from behind – some of them with a blunt instrument.

Pictures posted to social media showed several woman had been left bleeding heavily following a series of incidents - all said to have occurred close to University of Sheffield buildings between 7 and 26 September.

The arrest came after one student wrote to the Chinese Consulate-General in Manchester saying that students in the South Yorkshire city were “living in fear”.

Writing via Twitter, she added: “We are afraid that one day, somebody might die from such incident.”

The Consulate-General responded by urging the university bosses to "take decisive measures" to protect potential victims.

A university spokesperson said it was aware someone had now been arrested.

They added: "We were saddened to learn of these incidents and are doing everything we can to support the students involved and assist the police in their investigation.

"The safety and wellbeing of our students is always our top priority and we take incidents like this extremely seriously."

South Yorkshire Police said officers had increased patrols to provide reassurance following the arrest of Ms Shan, of Edward Street.

Chinese students make up 16 per cent of the university’s student population and pay an estimated 26 per cent of all tuition fees there – making it the most reliant on East Asian students in the country.