Man jailed for punching another man who was wearing a face mask

The victim of an assault in New Town says he was targeted because he was wearing a face mask.

A MAN has been jailed after pleading guilty to assaulting a Chinese student in New Town on Thursday night in an incident the victim says was fuelled by the wearing of face masks.

Ted, who asked for his surname not to be used, and his friend were walking to their car after buying groceries when a man shouted at them.

“He saw us wearing masks and yelled out: ‘You’ve got the virus go back to your country’,” Ted said.

“I got a bad feeling and told my friend to go to the car. Then I was punched in the face and my glasses were smashed.”

On Friday, a 38-year-old New Town man was jailed after pleading guilty in the Hobart Magistrate’s Court to assault. He was sentenced to two months in prison.

“We would like to thank those witnesses to the incident who intervened and provided support to the victim while police were called,” Tasmania Police Inspector Laurie Huxley said.

“Thankfully the victim did not suffer serious physical injuries. There is no excuse for verbal or physical abuse in our community and violence will not be tolerated.”

President of the Chinese Cultural Society of Tasmania Yongbei Tang said she was deeply saddened when she heard the news.

“Under any circumstances violence is despicable. There is a difference in understanding towards mask-wearing between the East and the West,” she said.

“The West regards it as a way to protect other people after you are sick yourself but the East think of it as a way to protect both yourself before you get sick and others in case you are sick yourself.

“I really hope a better cross-cultural understanding on this matter. We need to fight against the spread of coronavirus together not fighting with each other.”

Ms Tang, who is the editor of Chinese News Tasmania, said two hours after she posted news of the assault on her newspaper’s social media webchat the post had received 8000 views.

More than 1500 readers also took part in a survey with 68 per cent of respondents saying they wanted to wear face masks in Tasmania until the virus crisis was over.

Multicultural Council of Tasmania chair Waqas Durrani said he understood a mother and her children were verbally attacked in Hobart on Friday.

Mr Durrani said wearing a face mask was not a sign someone was sick.

“Many are doing it as a preventative measure, as COVID-19 can be airborne according to scientific research,” Mr Durrani said.