Woman jailed for attacking six Chinese students in Sheffield - using a bottle and hammer in some cases

Shan He admitted assaulting the students in the city centre in September 2021.

He used weapons to strike her victims over the head, including a bottle and a hammer in some cases; with a number of victims suffering head injuries that required medical treatment, while others suffered minor head injuries.

A South Yorkshire Police spokesperson described how when He was arrested on September 26, 2021, she had a hammer in a carrier bag.

Inspector Gareth Thomas from Sheffield’s City Centre Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT) said: “We know that this series of assaults last September caused considerable anxiety among the student communities living in our city, especially our Chinese student community, and I am grateful to both universities for their support during our inquiry.

“Neighbourhood officers from both the City Centre and North West NPTs dedicated a significant amount of time to this investigation, trawling through hours of CCTV footage from across the city centre to find the person responsible for these terrifying attacks.

“Our enquiries led us to the identification of He, a Chinese national who herself had come to Sheffield to study.

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“I’d like to recognise the efforts of the security staff who called police on 26 September 2021, believing they had located He. Our officers arrested He and found her in possession of a hammer.

“He’s victims have understandably been left incredibly distressed by what happened to them and what’s more, many of them were students from the Chinese community who had only recently arrived in Sheffield. We pride ourselves on Sheffield being an inclusive and welcoming place to study, but He’s awful crimes left those students feeling scared and incredibly vulnerable in a new city.”

He, formerly of Edward Street, Sheffield, appeared before Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday, August 3 where she was sentenced to 16 months in prison.

She will face deportation upon the conclusion of her sentence.

He entered guilty pleas in relation to six victims – four counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of battery.