EARLIER this month, I was in Cornmarket Street, enjoying a coffee outside.

As readers will know, many street artists perform there. One woman in particular imitates a statue and keeps perfectly still on a plinth.

Suddenly, I heard a loud shout and turned round to see a man in a rabbit costume staring at the performer – trying to frighten her.

What made it worse was that many people in the vicinity laughed. It is to her credit that she retained her composure after this verbal assault. She packed up shortly after and left.

Street performers should be able to operate free from harassment and this episode illustrated how unfeeling and cowardly we have become as a society. I hope the coward who tried to intimidate the artist feels ashamed. I hope the people who laughed feel ashamed. She was just trying to earn a living, something her attacker probably knows little about as Mummy and Daddy probably still fund him.

If you know who the coward is, how about a bit of naming and shaming?

Mark Simmons, Oxford