A 15-year-old teenager in the UK has admitted to assaulting a Singaporean student at Oxford Street on Feb. 24, 2020.

Pleaded guilty

The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to wounding or causing grievous bodily harm without intent, reported the BBC.

He will be sentenced on Sep. 7.

According to the prosecutor, the teen remained silent during police interviews until they showed him CCTV images, the BBC reported.

Following which, the teen said: "You can't even see me hit him."

Prosecution will apply for hate crime uplift

The teen, however, was not charged with racially aggravated assault.

However, the Crown Prosecution Service said that it will be applying for a "hate crime uplift" at the sentencing.

This means that the teen could be handed a lengthier sentence.

The Crown Prosecution Service's Daniel Kavanagh said, via BBC:

"He (the victim) was clearly targeted in this hate crime because of his ethnic appearance.

Hate crime has a corrosive effect on our society and nobody should be subjected to such vile behaviour."

Background to the case

Singaporean Jonathan Mok, 23, was walking past a group of young men along Oxford Street on Feb. 24 when they shouted at him. One of the words Mok heard was "coronavirus".

After he turned to look at them, he heard one of them shout "don't you dare look at me".

He was subsequently punched in the face by the men.

One of them also tried to kick him and allegedly said, "I don’t want your coronavirus in my country", before swinging another punch at him.

Mok, who has been studying in London for the past two years, later shared photos of his injuries on his Facebook page.

He had suffered a complicated fracture to his nose and cheekbone, reported the BBC.

A 16-year-old teen was also arrested on Mar. 4 in relation to the case, but was released with no further action.

Related stories

Top images from Jonathan Mok/Facebook.