Highlights
- Boyan Chowdhury suffered head wound requiring hospital treatment.
- Attack followed racist abuse from group of teenagers in Wavertree.
- Police describe incident as "abhorrent" hate-related assault.
The musician, in his 40s, was hospitalised following the incident in Wavertree on Saturday afternoon. Merseyside Police have described it as an "abhorrent" hate-related assault involving a weapon.
Chowdhury recounted how a group of young males, believed to be in their late teens, began shouting racist slurs after he asked them to move away from where they were smoking near him and his five-year-old son.
After taking his son to a neighbour's house, two members continued the abuse before a third attacked him from the side.
Attack left serious injury
"Something in my head just said, turn around quick. Instinctively I turned and I raised my hand, I took some of the blow away," Chowdhury explained.
The assault left him with a deep wound splitting his forehead down to his skull.
He shared graphic images on social media, stating: "I honestly believe if I hadn't turned around at that time, I don't think I'd be here because it would have been the back of my head. It would have been a lot more serious."
The musician revealed he has struggled to sleep since the incident, remaining "constantly looking out the window".
His wife is frightened, and their young son was scared to attend school on Monday.
Chowdhury, whose parents moved to Britain from Bangladesh, expressed pride in his immigrant heritage but described facing racism throughout his life.
Growing up in West Derby, he recalled: "We used to get bricks and stones thrown. It never went away."
He believes Britain is entering "a really dark phase of its history" due to "rhetoric being peddled by people who want to make money off other people".
Chowdhury was a founding member of The Zutons, known for hits including Valerie—famously covered by Amy Winehouse—and You Will You Won't.
Their 2004 debut album received a Mercury Prize nomination. He left in 2007 but returned for 2019 reunion shows.
Detective inspector Debra Morley stated: "This was a shocking assault that has absolutely no place in our communities. To racially abuse someone and then attack him with a weapon is abhorrent."
Merseyside Police are appealing for witnesses.
