Police in Yorkshire have announced that they have begun a hate crime investigation after a man defecated in the garden of former county cricketer, Azeem Rafiq.
Rafiq rose to prominence after he said that he had faced racism at Yorkshire County Cricket Club. He had begun his cricket career promisingly, playing for both England U/15 and England U/19 sides, which he also captained. He also became the first person of Asian origin to captain Yorkshire, and was also the youngest man to ever captain the county. However, his career failed to kick on and he had drifted out of the English game by 2017.
In 2020 he came forward with allegations that he had faced racism and bullying at the club, which led to a number of inquiries about the issues at Yorkshire, including by the British parliament. It also caused waves in English cricket more broadly.
In October 2022 a man was captured on CCTV defecating in Rafiq’s garden. Police have now said that they believe that the incident was partly because of Rafiq’s race and are investigating it as a potential hate crime. Photos of a suspect have been released in the last few days and people have been asked to come forward with information that could lead to the man’s arrest.
Commenting on the incident Rafiq said: ‘…(T)here was a bloke in broad daylight who basically walked in and out of the garden on the phone before defecating, bringing a loo roll – it looked all very planned.’