OAP beaten unconscious in attack close to mosque

A disabled Bangladeshi pensioner was beaten unconscious with his own walking stick in a vicious assault in Wirral. Police are treating the attack on the 71-year-old as racially motivated and last night appealed for calm in the Muslim community

The pensioner, who is partially sighted and registered blind, was attacked by two men after he left the Shahjalal Mosque on Borough Road, Birkenhead, on Saturday evening. One of the men punched the victim in the face and he fell to the floor. They then took his walking stick and beat him until he was unconscious.

When the victim came round the offenders had fled. He managed to walk to his home nearby and alerted a neighbour to what had happened. The pensioner was taken to Arrowe Park hospital where he received treatment to a three-inch cut on his head and severe tinnitus, from which he is still suffering. He also lost a front tooth in the attack.

DI George Davies of Merseyside police said: “This was a despicable attack on a 71-year-old man who was walking home from the mosque after prayers.

“We are determined to find the cowards who carried out this sustained and brutal attack on a defenceless man and are appealing for members of the community who may know who is responsible for this to come forward. Nothing was stolen during the incident and at this moment in time we believe that the attack was racially motivated.

“Borough Road is a very busy thoroughfare and I am sure that many motorists will have driven along Borough Road on Saturday night and they could have information which could prove vital to our investigation.”

He added: “We are appealing for calm in the Muslim community and are working with the local elders to reassure them and to ask if anyone witnessed the attack.”

The pensioner, who is originally from Bangladesh, was attacked as he approached a bus stop opposite the Pyramids shopping centre, after the junction with Whetstone Lane. Due to the victim’s age he was kept in hospital until Monday for observation.

The offenders are described as white males in their late teens. They were both wearing baseball caps.

Officers are carrying out house-to-house inquiries in the area and CCTV footage is being examined. Crime scene investigators have also been carrying out forensic examinations and the victim’s walking stick has been recovered in pieces.

Anyone with information which could help police can contact Birkenhead CID on 0151 777 2265, or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

Daily Post, 31 August 2006