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Weekly photographer racially abused and attacked outside court

Rotherham courtPolice are investigating after a weekly newspaper photographer was racially abused and assaulted outside a courtroom.

Rotherham Advertiser photographer Steve Mettam was left with an injured shoulder after the attack, which took place following a hearing at the town’s magistrates court into child sex abuse allegations.

A man accompanying one of the suspects in the case is said to have pushed Steve into fencing near the court, pictured above left.

Another began abusing him, calling him a “f***ing white d***head”.

No-one has yet been arrested over the incident, which took place on Tuesday. However, the Advertiser has confirmed it had reported the incident to South Yorkshire Police who are now investigating.

In a piece on the paper’s website, editor Andrew Mosley said: “Our staff are entitled to do their jobs while being treated with respect and without fear of being assaulted.”

“Such behaviour will not stop us from reporting on these issues or making sure the people accused of these crimes are identifiable to our readers.”

The attack comes the week after the Advertiser launched its #LoveRotherham campaign, which aims to help the Yorkshire town move on from a child sexual exploitation scandal by highlighting good news on its patch.

3 comments

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  • July 10, 2015 at 8:38 am
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    Battle scars, well done that man for doing his job in the face of such ludite behaviour.

    I woulnd’t take being called white as racial abuse though, unless I’d been on holiday and not got a decent tan.

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  • July 10, 2015 at 9:03 am
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    Another example of a story with the words Rotherham and child abuse sat side by side. I hope the town can move forward, its ironic the paper want #loverotherham to be in positive stories, yet here it is. All the best with the campaign.

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  • July 10, 2015 at 4:53 pm
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    Keep up the good work Steve. Don’t let any scum stop you.

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