Principal condemns egg attack

TWO students from an international college which has numerous Chinese pupils were abused and pelted with eggs in an attack linked to the coronavirus outbreak, writes Adrian Troughton.

Two boys, aged 16 and 17 – both pupils at Brooke House College, in Market Harborough – were hit on their torsos by the eggs after being targeted in The Square in the early evening of Monday.

Mike Oliver, principal at the college, said the attack on his pupils appeared to have been prompted by the scare surrounding the coronavirus in China.

“Our students, who look Oriental but are not Chinese, were deliberately targeted by these thugs,” he said.

“They were sworn at and told they had brought the SARS virus into this country. Then they had eggs thrown at them.

“That’s the level of ignorance we are dealing with here. These people meant the coronavirus, but called it SARS.

“The lads were not hurt but it was an upsetting experience for them.

“We have reported the matter to the police.”

Mr Oliver said that the fee-paying school has 270 pupils aged between 11 and 19. He said there are 58 different nationalities represented at the college, including 20 Chinese students.

The head said he had received four telephone calls from people claiming that students had been struck down with the potentiallydeadly virus.

Rumours had been circulating on social media about students from the college being affected by the coronavirus.

“I feel it is important to speak out not just about the egg attack but about the situation generally,” said Mr Oliver.

“We are in close contact with the World Health Organisation about how we deal with this situation. We