Five people charged over teenage asylum seeker attack

Five people have been charged following a suspected hate crime against a teenage asylum seeker.

The vicious attack left the victim fighting for his life in hospital.

Four have been charged with violent disorder and one with violent disorder and grievous bodily harm, police said.

Scotland Yard said the 17-year-old was chased and subjected to a ‘brutal attack’ after a gang discovered he was an asylum seeker.

Approximately 20 people were involved in the incident, which left the Kurdish Iranian man with a fractured skull and a blood clot on his brain. He is now in a serious but stable condition.

Neighbours claimed that several people watched while the victim was kicked in the head and beaten.

One resident of Shrublands Avenue, where the attack took place at 11.40pm on Friday, said: ‘There were more than eight people, there was a massive group coming up from The Goat pub.

‘You couldn’t see who was hitting who.

‘There was one person, the one who ended up in hospital, he was getting absolutely beaten up – kicked, mostly in the facial area. He was getting kicked and punched by everyone.

‘There was a group of roughly 10 people that was kicking and punching him, and the rest, another 10 or 20, were all just around watching.

‘Then when they heard sirens they started to go.’

The resident said witnesses had to wait until the group moved off before they could help.