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A Muslim student who claimed she was punched in the face for wearing a hijab has been fined after CCTV proved she invented the allegation.

The 18-year-old said she was knocked over by a blow from a man in a grey hooded top in New Street, Birmingham city centre , at 7.30am on November 23.

The teenager, who was never fully named, reported the alleged assault to police, who treated it as a ‘hate crime’, ten days after the Paris terror attacks.

Detectives spent hours trawling CCTV footage in and around New Street in a bid to track down the offender and also accompanied the teenager on a walk through the city centre to help her pinpoint the location.

But after examining the CCTV, they could not find any evidence of the alleged attack.

Now she has been handed a £90 fixed penalty ticket for wasting police time.

Supt Andy Parsons said: “Detectives spent countless hours looking through footage from the network of city centre CCTV cameras in a bid to piece together what happened.

“The footage shows her walking normally along New Street.

“At no stage does she appear in distress or seen reacting to anything, there is no evidence she was physically assaulted and she was given a penalty notice for wasting police time.

“Hate crimes are taken very seriously: Birmingham is a multicultural city and everyone should be free to go about their lives without fear of being verbally or physically abused simply because of who they are.

“But lying to the police is a serious offence – it can divert crucial police resources away from investigating real crimes and helping true victims – and will lead to a fine, caution or potentially a jail term for perverting the course of justice.”

The teenager told the Mail soon after the attack: “I feel shocked and really scared that someone could attack you for no reason.

“I don’t feel safe at all now.

“I was walking to the train station to meet some friends when someone shoved me from behind.

“When I turned around he punched me in the face and then just went off.

“I was really upset afterwards.

“I can only think it was because he saw my hijab as he didn’t take my bag or anything.

“I’ve lived in Birmingham all my life and I’ve never experienced something like this before.”