In an unprovoked racist attack, a teenager has suffered a permanent nerve damage after a bottle was smashed into his face on Saturday at Isle of Dogs, in the borough of Tower Hamlets, very close to Canary Wharf- the financial hub of London City.
The Evening Standard described that the attack happened in the late evening, when a boy out with his friends, riding a bike, came out of the Greenwich foot tunnel, and stopped near the junction of Mast House Terrace, and waited for his other friends who were lagging behind, to catch up with him.
As they stopped, a group of about five men and two women, all described as white and between 18 and 20 years of age, were standing across the road and started shouting abuse, including racist comments. One of the group had a knife and one a whisky bottle, and they approached the friends and tried to pull one of them off his bike.
The friends tried to escape, running into Spindrift Avenue towards Mudchute station to get away, but the group of thugs chased after them, caught up with the victim between the junctions of Telegraph Place and Barnsdale Avenue, and then brutally smashed him in the face with it.
The teenager fell backwards to the floor and a second man kicked him while he lay helpless on the ground.
Three hatchback cars - one black, one green, one silver -pulled up, and the two attackers jumped inside and fled the scene.
The victim and one of his friends managed to stagger back to Westferry Road, where they flagged down police officers, who found him drenched in blood from a deep slash to his left cheek.
He was taken by the London Ambulance Service to the Royal London Hospital, where he underwent surgery and spent three days in hospital.
Investigating officer Detective Constable Alan Henderson, from Limehouse CID, reportedly said: "This was an entirely unprovoked attack on the victim who was simply enjoying an evening out with friends.
"It is believed the suspects had been drinking and took the opportunity to not only hurl racist abuse but then attack the victim. He suffered a significant facial injury and has been left with permanent nerve damage.
"We would ask any witnesses or anyone with information to please come forward."
According to Scotland Yard, the total number of racist and religious hate crimes across London rose by almost 28 per cent last year, from 9,965 reported incidents to 12,749. Crimes listed as anti-Semitic were up 138 per cent from 208 to 495.
Anita Priya, who lives around Westferry Road for past 5 years told Asian Voice, "I have lived here for sometime. I have never witnessed such attacks on Westferry road before. My daughter is now two years old. And I have a bought a house down the road. I am now worried, this may even happen to us. My husband comes home from work quite late, every day. The police needs to act quickly. Fear is growing amongst us non-white residents."
Ashok Ganesan, who lived in Isle of Dogs for two years before moving to Snaresbrook told Asian Voice, "I have lived there, while working in Canary Wharf. We never felt threatened, even in the middle of the night. There are so many Asians living around. But this kind of unprovoked attack has raised questions in our minds about our safety around the area. We are law abiding people and racism is not an acceptable behaviour in this society. I hope police can trace the perpetrators down quickly."
