Police 'identify man who threw hot coffee' at Portsmouth Lib Dem over Brexit

Liberal Democrat councillor Lee Hunt was slapped on the head after the man threw the drink at him in Palmerston Road, Southsea, last month.

Now the Portsmouth councillor has revealed his assailant has been visited by police.

Cllr Hunt, ward member for Nelson, said: ‘I don’t want him prosecuted, I just want him to apologise and explain why he did it.

‘I want an informal or community resolution just to find out why he did it. I wouldn’t have done that to him, so why should he do it to me?’

The attack came on September 28 as Westminster politicians were criticised for inflammatory language, including prime minister Boris Johnson. Cllr Hunt said he thought politicians have now ‘tempered their language’.

Cllr Hunt had been canvassing opinion on a Lib Dem Brexitometer - gauging what voters’ positions were on the issue.

‘He made it very clear he was pro-Brexit and told us we were ignoring a public vote, and he wanted us out,’ he said.

But Cllr Hunt has been undeterred from campaigning.

He said: ‘The Liberal Democrats are not wilting wallflowers, we’ve been around a long time and we don’t get put off by that.’

A Hampshire police spokeswoman said: ‘We have identified the suspect and he has attended a voluntary interview. Enquiries are ongoing.’