Police issue images of man they want to speak to after brutal hate-crime attack on gay woman and her dog

Police have issued an image of man they wish to speak to after a gay woman was brutally attacked in a hate crime.

As reported in the Manchester Evening News, Hayley Smith, suffered a double fracture of her jaw when she was assaulted while a walking her dog, Milo, in Eccles. She was on Brookhouse Avenue, in Peel Green, at about 5pm on March 17th, when the incident took place.

Hayley was left unconscious, and was found by a paramedic who was by chance dealing with another incident in the area. She believes she was attacked purely because she is gay.

GMP only sent an officer to see her five days after the attack, and only when she had contacted the MEN . The force has since apologised for the delay.

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Detective Inspector Steven Hughes, from Salford CID, said: "This was a unprovoked and particularly vicious attack on a victim who was walking her dog in broad daylight. The comments made by a man clearly point to underlying homophobic reasons behind the assault.

"We want to reassure the public that we're dealing with the investigation with the utmost importance and vigour. CCTV enquiries have been carried out and we're now releasing an image of a male we would like to speak to as part of our on-going investigation."

Hayley told the Manchester Evening News this week: "So I am 32, a prison officer, and so am not really frightened by much. I was at the opposite side of the road, walking my dog Milo who is a little mix breed rescue from Bosnia. He got excited to go and say hello to the the dog across the street. The man he had like a Staffy or pit bull looking thing.

"The man shouted over, and I thought he said 'do you want