AN Anglican priest has been beaten up and insulted in what appears to be a “faith hate” assault by Asian youths.

Police are looking for three men after the attack in east London in which Canon Michael Ainsworth, 57, rector of St George-in-the-East, Shadwell, was attacked in his own churchyard after approaching the youths, who were behaving rowdily.

Two of the three attacked him, inflicting cuts, bruises and two black eyes. The assailants are also alleged to have insulted the cleric for his occupation.

“The suspects are Asian... and the incident is being investigated as an alleged faith hate crime,” said a police spokesman.

Under a new law introduced last year, it is an offence to stir up hatred against someone on grounds of their religion.

A parishioner raised the alarm after the attack on March 5, but the youths had fled by the time police arrived.

“There was blood everywhere,” a parishioner told the East London Advertiser. “All the church members are in shock over what happened. Our canon is such a nice man who has done so much for the parish. It’s been very upsetting.”

Ainsworth was admitted to the nearby Royal London hospital after the attack, was released and returned a week later. He is still in hospital under observation.

Alan Green, area dean for Tower Hamlets and chair of the local inter-faith forum, said the church was working with the council and police to ensure the safety of its ministers and members of the public in areas such as churchyards.

“We take any assault against members of the clergy very seriously and have had excellent support from the local police on this matter,” he said.

He said officers were correct to handle any incident involving an element of abusive faith-related language as a faith hate crime, in order to protect people of all faiths.

The Metropolitan Police recorded an upsurge in attacks against Muslims after the July 2005 bombings in London. There are also numerous attacks against Jews but, according to police statistics, relatively few Christians are attacked because of their faith.