Apple Moorhouse, who has worked for the NHS for 15 years, was subjected to the abuse while she was walking through Manor Heath Park in Halifax, Yorkshire, with her dad and daughter
A healthcare worker and her family were racially abused by an elderly couple in a park this week, a series of videos shared widely on social media appear to show.
Apple Moorhouse, her dad and her six-year-old daughter were walking through Manor Heath Park in Halifax, Yorkshire, when the altercation unfolded. The woman has claimed that her daughter became scared of an older couple’s dog and since the man was unable to get his pet under control, her child was forced to hold onto her grandpa’s legs tightly to get away from the animal.
The worried mum said she then challenged the man, telling him the dog shouldn’t have been off the lead if he couldn’t handle the animal. It was at that point, Apple claims, that the couple began racially abusing her and her family, which prompted her to start recording.
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Footage shared on social media shows the pair apparently confronting the family in an aggressive way, racially abusing them verbally, throwing water over them, and physically assaulting them. One of the clips starts with Apple saying the man told his dog to “kill me” as she records him and his pet.
The man replies: “Have you got a rubber boat? Did you come across the channel? Channel? Channel? Ban the immigrants. Ban the immigrants. Row back on the boats.” The woman is allegedly seen pulling Apple by her hair and twisting her around. The man appears to put both middle fingers up at Apple and the camera, and says: “Why don’t you just f— off?”
The woman then begins shouting aggressively, saying: “You are trouble, believe you me.” She adds: “Why don’t you just give it a rest. If you’re a healthcare person, I was an SRN (state registered nurse). I used to sit right above you, you little c— You just shut up. I’ll make you so bloody sick you’ll wonder what the hell is going on.”
At some point, the woman appears to grab Apple by the arm while the man tries to steal her phone. But Apple manages to get the woman away from her, shouting: “Will you stop pushing me? F— off.” As she gets up, the woman replies: “I’m going to get you…” The videos end at this point, Yorkshire Live reports.
Apple, who has worked for the NHS for 15 years, reported the incident to West Yorkshire Police, who are investigating the attack. Apple said she went to A&E the next day due to a bruise on her arm and pain in the left side of her neck and thorax, though she said it “wasn’t serious, it was just muscular pain.”
After the horrific incident, Apple wrote on Facebook: “The assault started when I only said that ‘If he can’t handle his dog, it shouldn’t be off lead because they are in the public area. I don’t normally confront people, but I felt like I had to. My dad and my 6-year-old daughter were walking down to the play area, and their dog started barking and following them while they were walking and made my little girl unsafe and scared as she held on tight to my dad’s legs.
“The man tried to get his dog but did not try hard enough, but he couldn’t, so then he left, and the people that were with him found it funny that their dog was making my daughter uncomfortable and unsafe. But the response that I received was, ‘Shut up, f— off and go back to where you came from on the dingy boat.’ So that’s when I decided to film the scene.”
She added: “I was raised to respect the elderly, and that’s kept my cool down. I could have fought back, but I didn’t because I still respected her because I saw her just like she’s my mother. When I pushed her and struggled to get up, I felt so bad about it. I didn’t expect that it was going to get out of proportion. I am just thinking now. If I hadn’t said anything to him, this shouldn’t have happened.”
She concluded: “But maybe this happened for a reason, an eye-opener that racism still does exist, unfortunately.” In a further post this afternoon, Apple said the couple were identified and were on the way to the police station for questioning.
The Mirror has contacted West Yorkshire Police for comment.