Police investigating the brutal assault on a teenaged refugee in Croydon on Friday night have charged five people in connection with the attack, which has left the asylum seeker in hospital with serious injuries to his head.
Someone in Croydon has their priorities right
The group will appear at Croydon Magistrates Court on Friday.
They were named as Daryl Davis, 20, Danyelle Davis, 24, Barry Potts, 20, and George Walder, 20, all from Croydon, who were charged with violent disorder. Jack Walder, 24, also from Croydon, was charged with violent disorder and causing grievous bodily harm.
Two men and a 17-old-year old girl arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and violent disorder remain in custody.
A man and woman arrested on Sunday have been released without charge.
Scotland Yard is calling the attack a suspected hate crime, which involved a mob of more than 20 people chasing the victim through the streets of Shirley, near The Goat pub on the Shrublands estate.
The police had arrested six people on Saturday and three more on Sunday, with a further arrest on Monday.
In a press statement, the police described Sunday’s arrests as, “A 23-year-old man was arrested at an address in Croydon on Sunday afternoon, 3 April on suspicion of attempted murder. A 26-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and violent disorder after separately attending south London police stations, also on Sunday afternoon and evening, 3 April.”
The police have meanwhile issued CCTV images of further individuals they want to interview following the mob attack.
The 17-year-old Kurdish Iranian victim of the vicious attack remains in hospital in a stable condition, with a fractured skull and blood clot on the brain.
The images released by Scotland Yard of further individuals they want to interview about Friday night’s attack on the teenaged asylum seeker
As more information is made public, much of it based on CCTV footage gathered from sites near the attack, the police are now saying that approximately 20 people were involved in the incident.
DI Gary Castle, from Croydon CID, said: “While arrests have been made, we now know that a large number of people, approximately 20, were involved in the attack on the victim. A number of them approached the victim as he waited at a bus stop with two friends outside the Goat public house in the Shrublands.
“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. There are no other reported injuries.
“If you can help identify any of these people please call my team without delay. All communities stand together against hate. No one should be subjected to violent behaviour, especially those who have come to London to seek refugee and a place of safety.”
Detectives are investigating whether some of those involved had been drinking in The Goat.
The pub’s management has been quoted as saying: “We do not in any way condone such action and we will do anything within our powers to help police to bring those that carried out this act to book. To the victim, we pray for his speedy recovery.”
Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, said, “Hate crime has no place in London, Britain or anywhere else. London is an amazingly diverse city. We don’t just accept our differences, we embrace and celebrate them.
“Silent Steve” O’Connell: Crystal Palace tweets 3, Refugee attack comments 0
“Our communities will not be divided by those who seek to sow hate. And we will always take a zero-tolerance approach to hate crimes of any type. Anyone who witnesses a hate crime should report it to the police immediately.”
And while other political figures from in and around Croydon, such as MP Gavin Barwell, who described the attackers as “scum”, have joined vigils on the high street and added their comments to the condemnation of the attackers, there’s been nothing from Brexit-supporting Croydon councillor “Silent Steve” O’Connell.
O’Connell, as well as being the London Assembly Member for the area, also happens to be the chair of the GLA’s police and crime committee.
Indeed, while Silent Steve has managed to tweet enthusiastically three times about Crystal Palace’s football victory over Chelsea on Saturday, he has uttered nothing about the attack on an asylum seeker that took place on his patch and on his watch on Friday night.
The Metropolitan Police ask that anyone with information concerning this incident is asked to call Croydon CID during office hours on 020 3276 2234 or via 101, or tweet @MetCC.
To give information anonymously call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or visit crimestoppers-uk.org.
*Updated at 2pm April 3 to include names of those charged.
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What does it say about young British people that round upon and brutally attack a teenage refugee on a street in croydon without any apparent provocation?
I am feel sure that this kind of inhuman behavior is rare….but I’m not so sure it was a ‘hate crime.’
I rather inclined to believe that it was a sad example of what happens when like minded people roam in packs like wolves looking for a victim to attack
and that ‘victim’ just happened to be a teenage refugee and they piled in until the sound of the police frightened them and they tried to escape but thankfully were caught and I hope they will be punished to the proper degree for doing what they would not want to be done to them.
I also think that the mayor of London shouldn’t resort to using the “we all love diversity” card the minute an immigrant is attacked on the streets of London
because the reality is (and few will be brave enough to admit it) there are people in our society that approve of immigrants being attacked.
And though London is indeed a diverse city, there is also a diversity between those who welcome diversity in terms of nationality and those who don’t.
And no amount of “we love each other” slogans will change that.
And if we hope to change the views and attitudes of those who are opposed to national diversity,
we need to accept that what happened to that teenage refugee on the streets of croydon
stands as evidence that there are still people people who refuse to embrace and accept diversity.
I hope the police tested these revolting people who carried out this attack to ascertain whether or not they had been taking drugs, as I cannot understand why any person thinking normally would so viciously attack another human being for no reason at all. Problem is, even if they were under the influence of illegal substances the police will never tell us. That’s because they’ve lost the war on drugs but wont admit it.
I wish the victim of this terrible incident a speedy recovery. In the meantime, Croydon should be very,very ashamed.
Of course they’d been taking drugs, a very specific and legally available one most of us enjoy.
I suppose you mean, crack, cocaine, ecstasy,heroin, LSD, methadone, crystal meth, barbiturates and amphetamines. They might just as well be legal. The police are as astonished about the crimes committed under the influence of these substances as they are embarrassed about their record of upholding the law against them. That’s why they never tell us when they are involved.
However, all of the above can be exchanged for not much more than the cost of a few imperial measures in your local pub/night club/gig/house party etc etc (if of course you know the right venue). And yes, these places also serve legal drugs too, there are even machines in some of them that sell the most evil drug of them all …….. tobacco!!!. But don’t be blazé about hard drugs. It’s one hell of a problem… it’s an epidemic that EVERYONE in this country should be seriously concerned about.
No. He meant alcohol.