Liverpool Chief Inspector Andrew Fielding said: "This was an absolutely despicable abuse and assault of a family."
Salim Ahmed and his family were spat at and abused as they travelled to Anfield, the home of their beloved Liverpool Football Club
Salim Ahmed and his family were spat at and abused as they travelled to Anfield, the home of their beloved Liverpool Football Club
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A lifelong Liverpool fan and his Reds-obsessed children saw a magical visit to Anfield ruined after they were spat at and racially abused by "despicable" youths in the area near the stadium.
Salim Ahmed lives in Bristol with his wife and three children, aged 7, 9 and 13. The family are devoted Liverpool fans and Salim said it was his eldest son's dream to see a match at Anfield. They decided to travel up to the city for the Reds' pre-season friendly with Monaco on Sunday. With it being his son's birthday on the Friday, they wanted to make a weekend of it.
Salim, 39, told the ECHO: "My son is a crazy Liverpool fan, we all are. Everyone was really looking forward to the weekend and we were planning to go and see all the murals around Anfield in the days before the match. It was his birthday so we wanted to make it a really special occasion."
Salim, who runs a marketing businesses in Bristol, said the family arrived at their accommodation in the city on Friday and made the short drive over to the stadium in the evening for a look at the murals of Liverpool heroes past and present.
Having enjoyed a tour of the area, they were stood close to the Ian Rush mural at the junction of Alroy Road and Anfield Road when suddenly the mood changed.
Salim said: "We suddenly heard the noise of spit and we felt it land on us. I felt it land on the back of my neck and on my hair. My wife felt it land on her and my little girl, who is only 7, it went on her clothes and her legs.
"We turned around and we didn't really know what had happened at first, it is not something you normally experience. There was a large group of kids, some of them were on bikes and they spat at us again, which confirmed exactly what it was that had happened to us.
Salim Ahmed and his family were spat at and abused as they travelled to Anfield, the home of their beloved Liverpool Football Club
Salim Ahmed and his family were spat at and abused as they travelled to Anfield, the home of their beloved Liverpool Football Club
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"I think if I was on my own I would probably have handled this a bit differently, but I was with my children and my wife. I'm nearly 40-years-old and I have never had anything like this. I am not naïve to the fact that this takes place, but it isn't something we have had."
He added: "But then I was thinking, if they spat at adults, that's one thing, but they have literally spat at my young children, so I was furious. Why would you do that to kids? I told my wife we needed to get the kids in the car, which fortunately was close by. I got them in and they locked the doors. I was really angry and furious at this point, it had just started to register what had happened."
Salim said there was around eight to 10 youths in the group, aged between 10 and 14. He said he was so enraged that after making sure his wife and kids were safe and locked in the car, he went back along the road to confront them.
He said at this stage the youths cycled away but began to shout vile racist abuse at him. He said: "They were cycling away shouting 'come on then you f****** p***', which obviously confirmed what their motivation was."
He said they were then joined by more young people in the group and he thought better of confronting them, choosing to return to his wife and children who were in the car.
Salim explained: "Common sense prevailed, I didn't want to leave my family alone in the car. As I came back a woman who lived nearby asked what had happened, when I told her she said 'sorry that's despicable'. As she was saying that some of these kids rode back up the street towards us and started shouting again - and she shouted back at them."
As Salim drove away with his family, he said some of the kids on bikes pursued the car, cycling down the Anfield backstreets to try and catch up with them, but eventually the car made it out of the area.
Salim reported the incident to Merseyside Police, who he said have been very proactive in following up the case. He told the ECHO: "I felt I had to report it because I don't want this to happen to another family.
"My kids and wife were shaken up. My daughter was asking 'why have those children just spat at us? We didn't do anything to them." I had to explain that not everyone in the world is nice.
"Of course I know not all of Liverpool is like that, elsewhere we had a really nice experience with people helping to show us where to go. We still went to see Liverpool and my son got to see Van Dijk and Szoboszlai, Mac Allister and Endo play at Anfield. But of course this incident overshadowed the trip."
Salim Ahmed and his family were spat at and abused as they travelled to Anfield, the home of their beloved Liverpool Football Club
Salim Ahmed and his family were spat at and abused as they travelled to Anfield, the home of their beloved Liverpool Football Club
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Merseyside Police confirmed the incident had been reported to them, describing one of the youths who spat at the family as white, aged 13 to 15, wearing dark blue shorts and a light grey top with dark-coloured sleeves.
Liverpool Chief Inspector Andrew Fielding said: “This was an absolutely despicable abuse and assault of a family who were simply enjoying artwork near to Anfield Stadium, only to be confronted by youths intent on causing fear and distress. We are supporting the victims as our investigation continues.
“Enquiries are ongoing to identify these youths and I would appeal to anyone who was in the area at around 9.30pm, or lives locally and may have captured images or moving footage on CCTV, dashcam or doorbell devices. Your information could be vital in tracking down those responsible. Similarly, if you know the names of anyone involved, do the right thing and come forward.
"We will not tolerate hate crime or violence in our communities, and be assured that we will assess all information received and take appropriate action.”
Anyone with information should contact Merseyside Police social media desk via X or Facebook @MerPolCC. You can also report information via our website: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/ or by calling 101 quoting incident reference 26000647046.
The ECHO understands that Liverpool FC is investigating and seeing how it can help the family and the police, including monitoring CCTV in the area. The club is in direct contact with Salim and is aiming to help however it can.