Advertisement

Teenage girl arrested after 20 people watched race hate attack on 17-year-old asylum seeker

The attack happened at a bus stop in Croydon - REUTERS
The attack happened at a bus stop in Croydon - REUTERS

A teenage girl is among nine people to have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a race hate attack on a 17-year-old asylum seeker. The local MP has described the attackers as scum.

The 17-year-old victim, a Kurdish Iranian, was waiting at a bus stop with two friends outside The Goat pub in Croydon, south-east London, when the group approached them.

After discovering he was an asylum seeker they chased him and launched a vicious assault, repeatedly kicking him on the floor and aiming blows to his head on Friday night.

bus stop near the Goat Pub in Croydon, London - Credit: Neil Hall /Reuters
Twenty people are said to have watched as the attack took place Credit: Neil Hall /Reuters

A 23-year-old man was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of attempted murder, while a 26-year-old man and 17-year-old girl were detained on suspicion of attempted murder and violent disorder.

Five other people are still being questioned by detectives while a sixth, a woman of 20, was released without charge.

Neighbours claimed up to 20 people watched while he was kicked and beaten on the ground.

Graffiti near the scene now reads 'Refugees Welcome' - Credit: Neil Hall /REuters
Graffiti near the scene now reads 'Refugees Welcome' Credit: Neil Hall /REuters

Government minister Gavin Barwell, who is also Croydon Central's MP, condemned the "appalling" attack that police are treating as a suspected hate crime.

Describing the attackers as "scum", he said: "I think most people in Croydon will be as appalled as I am that what appears to have happened is a young man who came to this country seeking sanctuary has apparently been targeted because of his ethnic background."

London mayor Sadiq Khan also condemned the attack, saying hate crime "has no place in London, Britain or anywhere else", while the Refugee Council said it was "disgusted" by the assault.

Shrublands area of Croydon - Credit: Neil Hall /Reuters
It took place in the Shrublands estate in Croydon Credit: Neil Hall /Reuters

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn also denounced it, saying: "Absolutely shocked at attack on young Kurdish asylum seeker, who came here searching for safety. I fervently hope he makes a full recovery."

The teenager suffered serious head and facial injuries, including a fractured skull and a blood clot on his brain, and last night remained in hospital in a serious but stable condition.

His two friends escaped with minor injuries, Scotland Yard said, as officers were in the process of contacting the teenager's next of kin.

Police believe he was approached by about eight suspects shortly before the attack in Shrublands Avenue at 11.40pm on Friday.

Detective Sergeant Kris Blamires from Croydon CID said: "It is understood that the suspects asked the victim where he was from and when they established that he was an asylum seeker they chased him and launched a brutal attack.

"He has sustained serious head and facial injuries as a result of this attack, which included repeated blows to the head by a large group of attackers."

Chief Superintendent Jeff Boothe, Croydon's borough commander, called it a "savage attack" and said it was only the intervention of passers-by and the arrival of police that stopped it being worse.

He said: "A number of bystanders and eyewitnesses tried to intervene and say to the attackers that enough is enough.

"By all accounts they didn't actually stop until the sound of police sirens were heard in the background."