A man from Cam is bailed after racist abuse and flags ripped down at a 5 September event in Bank Gardens, Stroud. Police want witnesses: occurrence 53260076823.
A man in his 30s from Cam has been released on police bail after a group of people were racially abused at an event in Bank Gardens, Stroud. Gloucestershire Constabulary published its appeal for witnesses on Tuesday, 17 days after the incident.
The force says a man approached the group at the park and shouted racist remarks at them. It says he then ripped down flags and threw placards.
What the force has said
The incident took place during an event at Bank Gardens on the afternoon of Saturday 5 September. The constabulary published its witness appeal at 12.43pm on Tuesday 22 September.
These are the details the force gave in that statement:
- a man approached a group of people who were at the park and shouted racist remarks at them
- he ripped down flags and threw placards
- the man was described as white, wearing a grey hoody, with a beard and short balding hair
- a man in his 30s and from Cam was arrested on suspicion of racially aggravated public order and being drunk and disorderly
- he was released on police bail with conditions, pending further enquiries
No one has been charged. An arrest on suspicion of an offence is not a finding of guilt, and the force has not named anyone.
Cam is a village about seven miles south-west of Stroud, inside the same district.
The force has not said what the event at the park was. Stroud Town Council does not publish a list of bookings for its open spaces, so we have not been able to confirm it from a first-party record.
Bank Gardens is a town council park
Bank Gardens is one of three parks run by Stroud Town Council, alongside Park Gardens and Trinity Pocket Park, according to the council’s own parks and gardens page. The council welcomes community events at suitable sites, provided organisers supply public liability insurance, a risk assessment and appropriate health and safety measures, with at least two weeks’ notice.
The gardens sit just off Lansdown, a few steps from the parish church of St Laurence and Lansdown Hall. It is one of the town centre’s main patches of open grass. Our guide to things to do in Stroud covers the town’s parks and green spaces.
What Gloucestershire’s own hate crime figures show
Gloucestershire Constabulary publishes a breakdown of recorded hate crime on its hate crime data page. The only quarter on that page is July to September 2025, so it is the most recent picture the force has put into the public domain.
In that quarter the force recorded 301 hate crimes across the county. The Stroud local policing area accounted for 24 of them, 8.0 per cent, the fourth largest of the six named areas. Gloucester recorded 127 and Cheltenham 72.
The force also breaks the figures down by community. Within Stroud district it recorded:
- Stroud Urban, 8
- Stonehouse, 7
- Dursley and Cam, 3
- Wotton under Edge, 2
- Nailsworth, 1
- Stroud Rural, 1
- Berkeley, 1
Race was the largest strand across the county by a distance, at 212 records. The single biggest offence category was racially or religiously aggravated public fear, alarm or distress, at 123 of the 301, or 40.9 per cent. That is the category the offence a man was arrested on suspicion of in Stroud would fall into.
The force publishes outcomes in a separate table, which covers 312 records and does not share a total with the location and category tables. In 107 of those, 34.3 per cent, the investigation ended with no suspect identified. Twelve, 3.8 per cent, ended in a charge or summons. A further 73 were closed because a suspect was identified but the victim did not support further action.
Gloucestershire Constabulary does not supply street-level crime data to police.uk, so there is no public map of where these offences happened. The force’s own community breakdown is the closest thing Stroud has to one.
What it means for you
If you were in Bank Gardens on the afternoon of Saturday 5 September, the force wants to hear from you, whether or not you think you saw much. Information can be submitted through the constabulary’s online form for an existing case, quoting occurrence 53260076823.
If you want to report hate crime at any time, the force has a report hate crime page and its guidance on what counts as hate crime. You can also call 101. Always call 999 if a crime is in progress or someone is in danger.
If you organise events in the town’s parks, Stroud Town Council asks for public liability insurance, a risk assessment and health and safety measures, and at least two weeks’ notice before an event on its land.
We will update this page if the investigation moves on. Charges, a release or a decision to take no further action will be added here rather than published as a separate story.
Have your say