TWO hate crime suspects were arrested and a third was charged by Bromley police last week in a London-wide crusade against homophobes and racists.

In Bromley's contribution to the Operation Athena campaign, officers swooped on two addresses in Penge, in connection with an assault on two Arab men outside a Bromley pharmacy in February.

The two suspects, aged 30 and 36, are thought to be members of gang of four or five men who attacked a 56-year-old Iraqi, from Bromley, and a 40-year-old Tunisian, from Catford.

The victims were outside Boots' Widmore Road store when they were attacked. The Iraqi suffered minor head injuries and the Tunisian cuts and bruises.

The two suspects were released on police bail the same day and ordered to visit the police station next month.

Officers also charged a 17-year-old youth from Bromley for a racially-motivated attack on a Sri Lankan cashier at an Esso petrol station, Westmoreland Road, Bromley, on February 19.

The youth had been arrested the week before and ordered to visit Orpington police station on the day of Operation Athena.

The suspect was told by police he would be appearing Bromley Magistrates' Court at the end of the week to face charges of racially motivated common assault, actual bodily harm and possession of drugs.

The operation followed a recent campaign by Bromley police called March Against Hate, which consisted of a range of measures, including high-visibility police patrols in Anerley, Hayes, Penge, Mottingham and Bromley town centres.

Victims of past hate crimes were also visited by police for check-up calls and officers visited secondary schools throughout the borough to talk about hate crime.

Detective Chief Superintendent John Godsave, who was responsible for co-ordinating the initiative, said: “Today's arrests are an example of the Met's commitment to show hate crime will be robustly dealt with.

“We will continue in our endeavours to provide both support for victims and a hostile environment for the perpetrators of hate crime.