Exclusive: A journalist covering protests in Southport, England, following the murder of three children at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event was brutally assaulted and robbed by demonstrators, but police say they initially refused his request to escort him to safety.
Publica reporter Jack Hadfield told Fox News Digital that he was attacked by a mob during a protest on Tuesday, who stole his phone charger and punched him hard enough to knock a tooth out of his mouth. Publica said in a statement that it had abruptly stopped covering the protest so Hadfield could get to safety.
“I am still a little shaken up after the attack but am recovering well,” he told Fox News Digital. “It has not in any way deterred me from continuing my reporting on the ground and I consider my broken tooth a battle scar!”
Mr Hadfield said he arrived in Southport shortly before 5pm on Tuesday and attended a vigil held shortly afterwards following the murder of the three girls.
Axel Rudakbana, 17, has been identified as the suspect in the stabbing.
2 children killed, 9 injured in stabbing attack at Taylor Swift-themed event in UK: ‘Absolutely shocking’
Jack Hadfield said he was attacked by a mob that stole his phone charger and punched him hard enough to chip a tooth. (Publica)
Hadfield said he went to St Luke’s Road after the rally to cover a protest planned for 8pm, but by that point the demonstration had already turned violent, with police vehicles being burned and people throwing bricks at the mosque.
Hadfield said authorities set up two police lines around the mosque to separate the crowds, noting that he was moving back and forth between groups to capture more footage of the protest.
Mr Hadfield said he was walking east on Hawkshead Road towards St Luke’s Road at around 10.40pm when a person who happened to hear him talking to others at the protest identified him as a journalist and shouted that he should be attacked. He said this caused him to walk faster and he believed he was the only journalist still outside when he was identified.
“I was attacked by a man and punched repeatedly in the head, face and body,” Mr Hadfield said. “I continued along the road and reached the junction of Hawkshead Road and St Luke’s Street where a much larger crowd of around 200 people was still gathered.”
“At that point I was surrounded by 10 to 15 guys and I tried to explain that I was not part of the mainstream media. They asked me to delete the images and videos from my phone, which I did,” he said, noting that he was later able to recover them from a folder of recently deleted items.
He said he received multiple calls asking him to take his phone and someone tried to take it from him but he resisted and managed to grab the phone.
Mr Hadfield was thrown to the ground and punched again, causing his glasses to fall off his face. He said his phone charger, which was connected to a portable power bank inside his rucksack, was then removed and stolen.
Hadfield grabbed his glasses and stood up, then “realised he had something in his mouth and spat part of a tooth he didn’t realise was missing in the attack into his hand,” he said.
He then ran approximately 50 to 100 meters (approximately 55 to 109 yards) down St. Luke Street to the police perimeter. He said he shed the tooth fragment as he was sprinting toward the police perimeter.
“When I was at the police line, the officers there were initially very unhelpful and said they couldn’t help me or even let me stay there,” Hadfield said. “They initially tried to get me to head west, but they said that would take me back further into the protests and they couldn’t provide me with any protection.”
Southport stabbing suspect named after attacker who killed 3 children
Jack Hadfield said he is recovering well after the attack but is still a little shaken up. (Publica)
After staying there for around 10 minutes, Hadfield was told the police line continued further up St Luke’s Road and headed in that direction.
“The police officers away from the crowd were much nicer,” he said. “No ambulance or taxi could get me to the hospital so I had to wait with the police for over two hours while a friend drove 65 miles in the middle of the night to pick me up and take me safely home.”
Police told Hadfield on Wednesday that a crime report had been filed about the incident, but he said he was skeptical it would lead to anything.
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Hadfield chose to be treated at home in Manchester. A friend took him to Manchester Royal Infirmary’s emergency department. After waiting around two and a half hours, he was seen by doctors at 5:30am on Wednesday. Doctors determined he did not suffer a concussion or other serious injuries.
He suffered bruises on his hands and face, swelling on his head and lacerations to both lips, and was also able to receive dental treatment on Wednesday.
