UK - sample of race
I Weekly, 22 Dec 00
Race attack in Feltham
On Sat, 16 Dec, 2 men, both 21, one white, one Asian were walking along Feltham High Street at about 12.30 am having spent the evening at the Bowling Centre. As they approached McDonalds, a group of unknown men shouted racist abuse. An exchange ensued and the 2 victims ran into Feltham rail station followed by the suspects who punched and kicked them to the ground. The victims were taken to hospital the white was discharged but the Asian remains for treatment for head injuries and a broken jaw. The suspects are 5 or 6 whites aged 16-20.
E Eye, 22 Dec 00
Student punched & kicked in Portsmouth
An Asian student, 23, faces surgery after he was savagely attacked by a gang of 4 thugs in Porsmouth. He was rushed to Alexandra hospital with a broken nose, fractured cheekbone and extensive bruising. Police said they didn’t rule out a race motive.
E Eye, 15 Dec 00
Teacher taunted 'black cow'
Mubina Bhimji, an IT teacher at Wigan & Leigh College, claimed the college failed to prevent verbal attacks by 3 unruly students who called her ‘black cow’. She claimed a 3-hour lesson is a long time to put up with verbal abuse and it was affecting her health. Bhimji (who has 14 years teaching experience) appealed to the industrial tribunal under the union Natfe ands was order £1000 damages. The tribunal criticized the college for the way it handled Bhimji’s complaints and Natfe regional organizer Colin Gledhill said the college failed to discipline its students for fear of losing funding under the market-led further edu system.
I Weekly, 17 Nov 00
Footballers chased by racists
A football match was abandoned in Leicester 10 minutes into play when a gang of 15 white youths burst into the pitch, chasing the Asian players with baseball bats, beer bottles and other weapons during an unprovoked attack. They had first started shouting racist abuse.
The manager Johal of the Asian team said 8 men started chasing him. He ran into the changing rooms and locked the door. They broke down the door and knocked him to the ground and continued kicking him. He said his ribs were still bruised after 8 days. The white team players of the other team just stood by though some came later to apologise.
E Eye, 17 Nov 00
Mown down by own cab
Tariq Javed, 48, employed by Peel Cars had gone to pick a passenger in Bury but instead was waylaid by some youths and attacked. They then drove the taxi over Tariq twice. He was left lying in a pool of blood. A female witness rang the cab form: ‘Come quickly, one of your drivers is being killed.’ The men made off in the taxi, later abandoned and set ablaze. Javed was a father of 4.
Machester police are treating the incident as racist murder. They say 4 arrests have been made.
[S Worker 18 Nov 00] The following day up to 1000 cab drivers from across east Lancashire drove around Bury in protest. They launched a 3-day strike. Most cab drivers in Bury are Asian. Two years ago a cab driver was murdered in Bolton and a few months ago another escaped being strangled. One of the drivers told SW: ‘It’s only because we took a stand that the police accept it is a racist killing. We have been complaining to the police for ages but they don’t do anything. 6 months ago the police even charged one of us with kidnapping when the passenger refused to pay.’
E Eye, 20 Oct 00
Arson attack
Mohamed Afsar, 48, of Coventry who owns Terrys News was going about his daily duties when 2 lighted petrol bombs were thrown into the shop. He said: ‘The flames just shot up my body. My trousers were on fire.’ He suffered burns on his legs.
E Eye & I Weekly, (both)13 Oct 00
KKK style attack in Hampshire village
Pravin Patel, his wife and 2 children of Kingsworthy village, near Winchester were returning home when they saw the charred remains of a wooden cross near the entrance to his shop, Springvale Stores which he bought 13 years ago. They were returning from a Hindu festival in the early hours of a Sat morning. Said Patel: ‘We just could not understand what it meant. My wife was in shock. My children asked me to sell up and leave.’
The police claimed the 5 foot cross was taken from the roof of the neighbouring St Mary’s Chapel. A curtain was set alight and the porch was damaged but the flames went out before spreading to the shop. It could have spread to the flats above the shop with white families. Det Insp Mike Dodds said: ‘This is an absolutely appalling incident in a quiet village community. It is being treated as an arson attack & racially motivated and criminal damage to church property. The use of the cross is meant to create the impression of a KKK style attack.’ The Patels are only one of 2 Indian families in the entire village.
E Eye, 29 Sept 00
Mistaken for Asian & attacked
Leigh Bell, 30, of Manchester had just returned with a suntan from a holiday on the Greek island of Corfu. He was cornered in an alleyway by 5 men who kicked and stamped on him before smashing a brick in his face. Bell was left in a pool of blood. The family thinks has was mistaken for an Asian. His mother said he was unrecognizable in hospital.
E Eye, 22 Sept 00
Payout for discrimination
Cumbria’s only Asian firefighter, Rajesh Patel, said he had been treated less favourably than his colleagues at the Barrow-in-Furness fire station. He received an out-of-court settlement of £20,000 for race discrimination. Rajesh also said he & family were racially harassed but this was denied.
Guardian (local), 13 July 00
Cab driver beaten, robbed & car stolen
An Asian cabdriver, 34, was attacked by his passengers - 3 white men in their 20s. They had taken the cab from a nightclub in Streatham and asked to go to Colliers Wood. On the way, the front seat passenger applied the handbrake, stopped the car and all three kept punching the driver. He was forced to hand over his change (£20) and was bundled out of his car. The car was found abandoned and ablaze by police in MItcham.
E Eye, 7 July 00
‘Cabbie beaten’
Cab driver Asad Hussain picked 3 men and a woman passenger in Preston town centre and took them to a place in Ashton. He was dragged from his cab and beaten unconscious. He was flung headfirst into a lamp post, kicked to the floor and a heavy metal sign was slammed into his chest. He was rescued when another driver pulled up to investigate. Preston CID are appealing for witnesses.
Eastern Eye, 23 June 00
‘Racist gang cuts off Sikh boy’s hair’
On 31 May, a Sikh teenager from Nottingham was racially abused, then punched to the ground. His turban came off and one of the attackers snipped off his hair with a 12-inch knife. The traumatised victim: ‘ This comes at an important part of my life. It seems I cannot practice my faith properly and prepare for my exams.’ His parents are taking him to India to recover
D Mail, 15 June 00
‘Girl sees her stepfather beaten to death on hospital steps’
Indonesian born Jan Pasalbessi, 48, had taken his white step daughter Christina, 14. to the Royal Gwent Hospital in Newport, S Wales. C’s mother had died 5 years ago and the two had been re-housed after a year long catalogue of racist taunts & threats. Christina had suffered facial injuries. A youth involved in the attack against C was being treated in the same casualty dept. He and several friends threatened Pabalbessi. Security guards were called. P tried to escape but he thrown to the ground near the hospital entrance and was viciously beaten, with horrific head injuries. He was taken to a specialist hospital but he died 24 hours later. Said Det Sup Des James: ’It is just unthinkable that a racial attack could happen on the grounds of a hospital.’ Said a neighbour: ‘Jan was protective towards her. She had no mother and he was the only person to look after her.’
The killing comes just 2 months after Asian shopkeeper Peter Singh was killed. 5 years ago, an elderly Asian shopkeeper Mohan Singh Kullar, 61, had been murdered near Neath, West Glamorgan with a 6 lb house brick. The killer was jailed for life.
Eastern Eye, 26 May 00
‘Report on race harassment at school’
A Uni of Strathclyde report confirms that race harassment affects the lives of ethnic pupils. Dr Satnam Virdee, co-author of the report, said: ‘All those interviewed admitted being subjected to some race harassment in school.’ Ethnic pupils tend to sit separately from their peer group and many Asian boys withdraw from competing in school games to avoid racial harassment. Asians who date white girls and are good at sport soon become victims of racist abuse from older white boys.
D Express, 25 May 00
‘Shopkeeper kicked to death’
Kumbra Divarkan, 43, and a friend had opened a books & general goods shop Bargain Books in Bayswater, West London in 1995 after they had been made redundant from the Dillons bookshop group. Divarkan had experienced racial abuse from young people a few weeks ago. This time he was alone in the shop on Sunday night when a gang of 4 or 5 youths, boys & girls 13-16 entered. They tried to steal a football and D tried to stop them. He was kicked and punched. He fell and he was kicked again.
D died in hospital on Tues (23 May) without gaining consciousness. He leaves a wife & 3 children. The police have been looking for the gang, including a 15 year old girl.
[Update 16 June 00] 3 teenagers, one just 15, have been charged with Divakaran’s murder. He died from serious head injuries.
Times, 12 Apr 2000
Santokh Singh Sandhu, 42, known as Peter Singh to his friends, was murdered last weekend in the centre of Port Talbot, South Wales outside the Grand Hotel. He had gone for a quiet drink with a white friend Bob McQuaide. There was a booze fueled exchange with 4 white men. He was knocked to the ground and punched. His white friend was also knocked unconscious. Mr Singh was left bleeding on the pavement and died on his arrival at hospital. He ran a ladies clothing store and was a father of 3. He was believed to be quite popular in the area.
S/Worker, Apr 2000
A black teenager was stabbed 4 times and left for dead in Wimbledon, south London on Sat, 8 April 00. He was attacked after challenging a gang of white youths who were racially taunting him.
An Asian boy, 15, had his jaw smashed by a gang of white males in Leicester.
Two Kosovans were attacked in their homes in Southend, Essex, last week by 2 white men.
Eastern Eye, 7 April 00
‘Caterer left for dead’
On 12 March, three young Asians, Bobby Sandhu (25), his brother Harjinder (28) and Oli had gone out for drinks in Bristol and then played snooker. They walked back to get a cab when they attacked from behind and left unconscious in a pool of blood. All were badly injured. Bobby who was hit in the face with a broken bottle needed 30 stitches to his face. Harjinder suffered cuts and bruises. He said: ‘there was no argument. They just attacked us.’Three men were arrested and given police bail.
Eastern Eye, 31 March 00
Two Asian men had pulled up at traffic lights next to a lone driver in West London. The driver made offensive gestures before speeding off in his Golf. Later the Golf and 2 other vehicles cornered the 2 men. They repeatedly rammed their car. 7 men armed with metal bars jumped from the convoy, battered the Asians after given them chase near Heathrow airport. Their car was smashed. The attack was unprovoked.
I Weekly, 24 Mar 00
‘Spike him! Put the Paki’s head on a spike!’
TV scriptwriter Sunil Modi, 32, was driving at night with his white fiancée Claire, 22, through the suburbs of Liverpool on early Sunday morning, 12 March 2000. He was on his way to his sister’s home when he was forced off the road by Ford car. The driver and passenger in the Ford shouted ‘Paki!’. Soon the couple were surprised as 2 more white men ‘came from nowhere’.
Sunil was hit in the face with a beer can and dragged out if his car. As he tried to push the can away, the Ford driver grabbed my hand and started biting it. Sunil said later: ‘What sort of life do you lead that you have to bite someone?’
He was kicked until he was almost unconscious and dragged towards the sharp edged metal fence. ‘I managed to curl myself into a ball and it was just kick, kick, kick to my head.’ They were shouting: ‘Spike him – put the Paki’s head on a spike !’ Meanwhile Claire was being attacked by a woman passenger (17) while still in the car. She said: ‘One of the men took a flying kick to my head.’
The couple were saved when a police car arrived at the scene. Sunil was treated foe broken nose ans cheekbone. His right eye was damaged and he lost several teeth. Said DCI Graham Yip of Merseyside Police: ‘IN 19 years of service, this is the most horrendous racist attack I’ve seen.’
Eastern Eye, 31 Mar 00
Basharad Hussain, 40, a taxi driver, was in his radio cab one early Sat morning on a Manchester street when apack of youths flagged him down. He explained to them he was on his way to a booking. The next he knew, one of the thugs had smashed the passenger side window, reached for the driver’s side and punched him in the face several times and took his key. They next pulled him out of his car and 4 or 5 of them began beating him up. Then more joined in.
Fellow cab driver Mohamed Younis found him in a pool of blood. He could hardly speak and his eye was closed. He said an ambulance had arrived and took away the attackers who were slightly injured. Paramedics failed to notice him and drove off. A policeman told him another ambulance was on its way but they were very busy and he had better take him to casualty in his own taxi. This he did only to find the same thugs there laughing and threatening the 2 Asians. The doctor said Hussain’s cheekbone was broken and he might lose an eye. A fellow councilor (Qassim Afzal of Cheetam Hill) said he had written to Chief Constable David Wilmot about the incident. The Ambulance Service had no clear explanation for their behaviour.
Eastern Eye, 3 Mar 00
Hardip Samra, 25, was cornered after a party in Swindon, Wlitshire and left with a vicious beating that left footprints on his face. He was first head butted to the floor, then kicked and punched in the face – even after he lost consciousness. His white fiancée Kasia Myers, 34, a hairdresser, said: ‘They just emerged from behind the van and concentrated on his face. There were no marks elsewhere. One even landed a running kick and when he down they jumped on his head. Hardip knew one of the men, a friend years ago, and he recognized another.’ Hardip had planned to propose marriage to Kasia on Valentine’s Day the following day and she believed this led to the attack. The police said they were investigating but failed to find the gang whereupon Kasia herself produced dozens of ‘wanted’ posters with her fiancee’s facial injuries and the names of the 2 men she feels are involved. She plastered them all over lamp posts and bus shelters around Swindon. Bur she soon received death threats and had to go into hiding.
The Asian, 9 Feb 00
‘Shopkeeper stabbed’
An Asian shopkeeper, 61, was stabbed and punched during an armed robbery in Garscadden, Glasgow by 2 young men who escaped with money, a 3-figure sum. The shopkeeper was not named and has now been discharged from hospital. Det Con Grant Reid said: ‘This was a violent robbery. The man was extremely shaken by the incident and spent a number of days at hospital.’
In the New Year Gurmit Singh, 59, was shot during a raid at his licensed grocery store near Lenzie, north of Glasgow. He died in hospital.
‘Asian stabbed and left lying in street’
On 15 Jan 00 about 11.30 pm, an Asian man walking along Clapham Road from Stockwell tube station was approached by a white man (about 20 of slim build and short light hair) and attacked. He was beaten, stabbed several times and left lying in the street. Police were called and the man as taken to a south London hospital. The police are treating it an a racial incident.
IndiaWeekly, 25 Nov 99
‘Racists in Diwali attack’
Nayan Panchmatia, 29, a student in Loughborough, was with a cousin & friends in Leicester on Diwali day. After leaving a nightclub, the group was chatting at St Margaret’s bus station when 2 young white men in their mid-20s approached them but then left and returned with a companion to smash a bottle over Nayan;s head & then repeatedly punching & kicking him while he lay on the ground.
Speaking to I Weekly, he said: ‘I bore the brunt of the attack. They smashed the bottle on the back of my head. When on the floor, I received many blows on my face. If there was some provocation it is understandable but this was uncalled for.’ He suffered a cut on the forehead And on the chin. The 3 men fled the scene with a woman in a taxi. Another Asian man had been allegedly abused by them.
Det Con Tracy Coleman said: ‘This was a completely unprovoked attack entirely motivated by racism.’
Eastern Eye, 15 Oct 99 (Also in Times)
Tahir Hussain: ‘Launching case 28 for race discrimination’
Since 1995, Tahir Hussain (then 29), has been testing companies race policies by sending two identical CVs – one under his own name, the other in the name of a white woman. In several cases his own application was rejected while the fictitious woman was called for interview. He then files a case at an industrial tribunal and until 1997 had won $25,000 in compensation.
One fictitious name used was Catherine Riley. But in 1997, a real Catherine Riley, 31 & unemployed mother of 4, slammed Tahir for spoiling her own chances of a job. Tahir apologized to the woman, saying he had picked the name at random.
By July 1999, he had won case no 7 and was awarded £16,500 against a Leeds firm, Resourcing Solutions, a recruitment agency. The MD of RS had left a message on Tahir’s answerphone that another candidate had been selected. Tahir knew this was untrue as none of the other candidates (all female) worked in the recruitment industry.
In 4 years had made over 1500 applications and by October 1999, he had launched his 28th claim – this time against another Leeds-based firm Lectra Systems. He had applied in February in his own name and there was no reply. 11 days later he sent another application – this time in the name of Laura Williams using his mother’s address and qualifications similar to his own. While he was rejected, Laura was called for an interview. He has appeared before an industrial and expects a big pay-out. So far in 5 years he has collected £40,000 in compensation for race discrimination in securing a job.
Independent (local) 30 Sept 99
‘Knife attack by racist thug’ in Wimbledon
James Morrison, 22 of Whatley Avenue, Wimbledon Chase, had picked a fight with accountant Karim Bashir, 26, in a kebab shop in Kingston Road late at night simply because he was annoyed that an Asian was ahead of him in the queue. Morrison followed Bashir to his home, broke his front door and plunged a kitchen knife into the bedroom door. The case came up this week at Kingston Crown Court – Morrison was jailed for 6 & half years and concurrently for 3 years for racially aggravated damage. Judge Mitchell described the case as the most ‘chilling incident’ he had ever heard.