Prosecutors believe they have identified a yob who kicked a woman down a flight of stairs at a Berlin subway station but he has fled to his native Bulgaria.

A local tabloid has reported that public prosecutors in Germany have identified him as Svetoslav Stoykov, 26, but cannot arrest him because he has left the country.

The incident in October was captured in a video shared this week.

Bulgarian media say Stoykov is married to a woman called Tsvetanka, with whom he has three children.

The subway attacker has been identified as Svetoslav Stoykov (pictured), who has fled Germany and returned to his native Bulgaria

Bulgarian Nova TV reported Stoykov had a long criminal record in Bulgaria.

He was born in the city of Dobrich in northern Bulgaria, but currently lives in Varna, a resort on the Black Sea coast.

A Bulgarian TV journalist who visited the house in the Maksuda district spoke to Tsvetanka's parents through a huge iron gate at the front of the house.

The man believed to be Stoykov, dressed in jeans and a leather jacket, aims a targeted kick at her back, toppling her down the stairs

A Bulgarian TV journalist tracked Stoykov down to this house in Varna but he was not there

Stoykov's mother-in-law Ibryan said: 'We don't know about the video. We haven't seen it, and I don't want to watch it.'

They said that while the pair were in Germany, they were staying at the house and looking after the children but they refused to let the TV team inside.

German media had reported earlier that the culprit had gone back to Bulgaria, and if this turns out to be the case, they are likely to request his extradition.

Stoykov's in-laws, Elmaz (left) and Ibryan (right) spoke to a TV reporter. Ibryan said she had no wish to see the video

In the video the four men can be seen following the young woman down into the metro, with one of them kicking her while she is going down the stairs.

A crowd of people quickly came to help the woman, who was taken to hospital, according to local media.

Bulgarian media reported that all four men in the shocking video were Bulgarians.

German police had only interviewed one of the men who apparently in the video and who gave the crucial information about the attacker before he was released on bail.

The woman is seen landing on her face on the floor several steps down, with other people rushing over to help her as the contents of her purse are scattered. The gang then wander off with one stopping briefly to retrieve a dropped beer bottle.

The Bulgarian Interior Ministry said they have had no extradition request but will cooperate with German police if they get one.

After the video went viral, a €2,000 (£1,677) reward was offered by bodyguard Michael Kuehr, 54, who worked for Lady Gaga and Charlize Theron.

CCTV shows the young woman walking through the metro station in Berlin when the man comes up behind her, holding a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other

A businessman has also offered a cash reward, and Mr Kuehr and said he was one of many Germans left in shock after watching the CCTV footage.

He claimed he 'almost had to vomit during breakfast' when he saw the footage of a slim young woman going down a tiled staircase, followed by a heavyset man in blue jeans and a leather jacket, clutching a beer bottle and smoking a cigarette.

When she is still at least eight steps from the bottom, the perpetrator raises his leg and kicks her hard in the back, sending her flying several feet down to the ground.

She lands painfully on her face, sprawling on the hard surface, the contents of her handbag scattering across the floor.

The attacker, flanked by three friends, walks back up the stairs and saunters away.

One of his accomplices lingers for a second to retrieve a dropped bottle and then strolls away with the rest.

Mr Kuehr said: 'I am an absolute opponent of vigilantism, there are laws. I see myself as a supporter of the police.'