Man at Tommy Robinson demonstration hunted by police over attack on officer

Police officer ‘violently pushed by one or more people’, Scotland Yard says

The man can be seen wearing a back-to-front peaked cap, dark shorts and a black and white T-shirt with the logo of the band Kiss on the front (Met Police)

A man who is believed to have been involved in an assault on a police officer during a Tommy Robinson protest in central London, is being hunted by police.

Scotland Yard said that on the morning of 24 August, supporters of the of anti-Islam activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, were met by counter-protesters from groups including Stand up to Racism.

“A number of people attempted to physically breach a police cordon” in Portland Place in Westminster, it added. “As part of this, an officer was violently pushed by one or more people.”

Pictures of the man investigators want to speak to in connection with the attack show him wearing a back-to-front peaked cap, dark shorts and a black and white T-shirt with the logo of the band Kiss on the front.

A woman in her 30s has also been arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police officer and has been bailed to return on a date in late September.

“Our officers work hard to protect the rights of those who wish to protest and our main aim is to reduce the potential for violence, disorder and disruption to communities," said Detective Sergeant Chris Rudd, who is leading the investigation into the attack.

“Assaults on police officers – who are there to ensure the safety of those attending such protests – are entirely unacceptable and we will work tirelessly to investigate incidents of this nature. I appeal to anyone who has information on this individual to come forward in complete confidence.”

The assault came less than a month after an attack on a police medic during an earlier rally in support of Robinson and a counter-demonstration by the anti-racism group.

That officer was dragged to the ground and kicked in the head in a “sickening and cowardly” attack, police said at the time.

Video footage posted on social media appeared to show the male medic being dragged to the ground and surrounded by a group of Robinson supporters.

Robinson, the founder of the English Defence League, was released from prison last week, two months after being given a nine-month sentence for contempt of court.