North Manchester police are investigating an antisemitic assault on a 16-year-old boy as he walked home with his family from synagogue on Shabbat.

Witnesses saw one white and one Asian man shouting racist abuse at passers-by from a black car parked on Kings Road in Prestwich.

“They then got out of the car,” said one witness. “I saw one of them smack the boy in front of his mother and two sisters.

“The attacker fell as he punched and, rather embarrassingly, his trousers fell down.”

The car was later seen following two other young Jewish boys.

Police say the victim suffered injuries to his eye and mouth and are treating the incident as racially aggravated.

However, Sergeant Ian Campbell, who co-ordinated local policing over the High Holy-Days, says increased police visibility has generally reduced antisemitic acts.

“Both mine and the CST’s perceptions are that community confidence in the police has been higher this year with fewer incidents.”