Seven people have been charged following a suspected hate crime in Croydon that left a 17-year-old asylum seeker with serious head and spinal injuries.
Five of those charged appeared at Croydon Magistrates’ Court today after the attack on Kurdish-Iranian asylum seeker Reker Ahmed on Shrublands Avenue on Friday.
Barry Potts, 20, of Fir Tree Gardens, and siblings Daryl Davis, 20 and Danyelle Davis, 24, of Laurel Crescent, were released on conditional bail after appearing in court on charges of violent disorder.
George Walder, 20, of Myrtle Road, who was charged with racially aggravated grievous bodily harm in addition to violent disorder, was remanded in custody.
His brother Jack Walder, 24, also of Myrtle Road, was granted conditional bail.
In total, 16 people have been arrested in connection with the incident which left Mr Ahmed with a fractured skull and spine and a blood clot on his brain.
Two were released without charge and seven remain in custody in addition to the seven charged.
Detective Inspector Gary Castle, 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 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.
“A number of people came to the aid of the victim as he lay unconscious and injured following the assault.
“Two friends of the victim managed to escape the attackers and suffered only minor injuries.”
Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell earlier called the perpetrators of the attack ‘scum’ and urged the public to contact police with any information.
If you have any information about the scum responsible for this, please contact @MPSCroydon #Croydonhttps://t.co/VHN65Tqege
— Gavin Barwell MP (@GavinBarwellMP) April 1, 2017
A crowdfunding effort on JustGiving has raised almost £10,000 of support Mr Ahmed in the two days since it launched.
