Asylum seeker did not recognise his own brother when he visited him in hospital after Croydon attack

A 17-year old asylum seeker beaten and left for dead in an alleged race-hate attack did not recognise his own brother when he visited him in hospital.

Kurdish Iranian student Reker Ahmed was left with a fractured spine and bleed on his brain after he was set upon by a mob of up to 30 while he was waiting at a bus stop in Croydon, south London on Friday night.

Hadi Ahmed said he visited his brother, who is being treated at London's King's College Hospital on Tuesday, and only found out on Monday he was the victim of the assault after seeing his picture in the news.

"When I saw him the first time he was like 'are you my brother?' and I said 'what do you mean?... yeah I'm your brother what are you talking about?'," the 23-year-old said of the hospital visit.

"It was like that, just shocked. I was just hugging him saying 'you're my brother'.

"I didn't recognise him as well when the first time I see him... he didn't have any affection. He didn't want to hug me."

He added: "It was horrible. I started crying.

"It's really bad, I feel really gutted and disappointed about the situation that happened."

A friend said the teenager had dreamed of coming to England since he was child, according to a friend who witnessed the assault.

Dilshad Mohammed, 21, who was with the young Iranian Kurd, said: “Half an hour before that fight he was telling us 'It was my dream to come to England and I've been here for a few months. That's all I wanted in my life and I'm here now'.

"Even when he was young he was wishing to come to this country. And now he was telling us 'From a young age I was hoping for it and now I've got it. I'm here I'm happy'.

"He was hugging me as saying everything is going alright. All we wanted was to come to this country, get the visa, start working and have a nice life."

Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the Kurdish Cultural Centre based in south London, said he accompanied Mr Ahmed on the visit to see his brother.

He revealed the teenager had been "smashed very badly" in the face, adding that he was being supported by people either side so he could walk and that there were bandages on his arm and leg.

"He lost his memory because he didn't recognise his brother," Mr Abdullah said.

"His face was very badly smashed and all black eyes.

"If we saw him somewhere else... we couldn't recognise him."

Police have so far charged 13 people in connection with the incident, for offences including violent disorder, wounding with intent and racially aggravated grievous bodily harm.

The Metropolitan Police believes more than 30 people may have been involved in the hate crime, which members of the Kurdish community says has left them worried and shocked.