'Asian' Shouted Racial Abuse Before Manningham Stabbing

From The Telegraph & Argus:

A teenager who stabbed and slashed a passer-by in a racially motivated attack has been locked up for five years.

Amir Rehman, 18, shouted racial abuse as 51-year-old Ronald O’Connor walked to a shop for a loaf of bread, near the gates of Lister Park, Manning-ham, last December.

Leeds Crown Court was told Rehman shouted out: “Manningham belongs to Muslims. We don’t want whites. We rule Bradford. We are going to get you out.”

His frightened victim, Ronald O’Connor, tried to get in the shop, but Rehman ran up and stabbed him twice in the upper arm with a four to five-inch bladed knife.

The court heard that Rehman, of Lumb Lane, Manningham, was describ-ed as in a frenzy, “like a crazy man, out of control,” as he tried to slash Mr O’Connor’s face. The palms of Mr O’Connor’s hands were slashed as he tried to defend himself.

Prosecutor Richard Gioserano said: “Rehman was swinging at him over and over again with the knife. Mr O’Connor was in great pain and in fear, literally, of his life.”

Mr O’Connor ran into the shop. Police were called and Rehman was arrested outside.

Mr O’Connor had surgery at Bradford Royal Infirmary for a deep laceration to his palm. He also suffered lacerations to his fingers and two incisions to his upper arm with apparent nerve damage.

Mr Gioserano said Rehman attended Bradford Crown Court for a preliminary hearing of the case in March, but went straight from court to Pudsey, with two other men, Amar Farooq and Tanveer Hussain, where, later in the day, they committed a series of robberies on children on their way home from school.

During the street muggings some of the youngsters were threatened with being stabbed, though no knife was seen. The court heard that the defendants were clearly drunk.

Jonathan Devlin, for Rehman, said there were no explanations or excuses for the offences other than drink.

All three pleaded guilty to three robberies. Rehman pleaded guilty to wounding with intent in connection with the Manningham incident.

Hussain, 23, of Lumb Lane, Manning-ham, and Farooq, 25, of Agar Street, Girlington, were jailed for 30 months.

Rehman was sent to youth custody for a total of five years.

The judge, Recorder David Bradshaw, told Rehman he had committed an unprovoked attack on an innocent man causing “horrendous” injuries.

He said: “I am satisfied it was accompanied by racial abuse and seemed to have a racial motive.”

This story actually made a national daily newspaper. It has some more detail about the knifepoint robberies Rehman and two accomplices carried out against school children - a few hours after they had appeared in court:

A 15-year-old schoolboy who was making his way home at 3pm on 4 March, was grabbed from behind, punched in the face and had his iPod and mobile phone stolen.

A group of three more pupils, two boys and a girl aged 14 and 15, who saw the attack were the next victims.

Hussain asked to borrow a mobile phone and when all three said they didn't have one, Farooq said: "You have 10 seconds to give me your valuable stuff or I will stab you all."

The girl ran off and Farooq grabbed one boy shoving him against a wall while the other two stole £1.10 from the other boy, said Mr Gioserano.

Their next victim was an 11-year-old boy.