MALICIOUS text messages blamed an attack on an Asian woman as a reprisal for the death of soldiers in Afghanistan, it emerged last night.

The messages were sent to Asian communities in Huddersfield, wrongly suggesting the Newsome incident was linked to the deaths of six soldiers – three from the town.

But last night, senior police officers stated there was no possible link with the incident involving the Asian woman and condemned those behind the texts.

They confirmed that the text messages circulating across the district had caused problems.

Supt Ged McManus, of Kirklees police, said: “In the incident that took place on Saturday, once we found the woman in question, it became clear that she had not been attacked and that the man who had approached her was Asian himself.

“There is therefore absolutely no basis to text messages going around Kirklees this week that have implied that this incident was a retribution attack by someone upset at the deaths of the soldiers in Afghanistan last week.