Charges against attack victim dropped

British police have dropped charges against a mainland immigrant who was charged with assault as she defended herself against a racist attack in which her boyfriend was fatally injured.

Prosecutors have quietly dropped the charges of common assault and affray against Eileen Jia Ming-yan, who was severely beaten in the April attack. Her case outraged Britain's Chinese community but drew few headlines.

Ms Jia and her boyfriend and business partner Mi Gao Huang Chen were attacked by a gang of youths at their restaurant, the Superb Hut Chinese Takeaway, in Wigan, northwest England.

Huang died in hospital five days after he was beaten with pipes, planks, a garden spade and a hoe.

Police charged Ms Jia in June after a girl involved in the attack alleged that Ms Jia assaulted her during the incident. A conviction for affray carries a prison sentence of up to five years.

The prosecutors 'decided to take no further action against Ms Jia because 'a prosecution is not needed in the public interest' ', lobby group Min Quan said.