'They threatened to stab me': Student tells of backpack attack that shocked the world

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Megan Levy
August 11, 2011 - 9:57AM

Londoners have rallied behind a young Malaysian student who was robbed by rioters posing as good Samaritans as he lay, dazed and bleeding heavily, in the streets of the English capital.

Shocking video footage of the callous assault on Ashraf Haziq has become one of the enduring images of the UK riots, prompting British Prime Minister David Cameron to describe it as a sign of deep social upheaval in Britain.

Mr Haziq, a 20-year-old accounting student, had been riding his bicycle with a friend to buy food to break his Ramadan fast when he was attacked by a group of youths in the east London neighbourhood of Barking.

His bicycle was stolen by a boy Mr Haziq estimated was no older than 12-years-old, while another thief took off with his mobile phone.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/world/they-threatened-to-stab-me-student-tells-of-backpack-attack-that-shocked-the-world-20110811-1inkv.html

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More of what he said about the brutal assault at the link.

Video of the incident: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x607646


Malaysian student mugged during riots was 'attacked at knifepoint'
Ashraf Haziq recovering at Royal London hospital after attack in Barking that left him with broken jaw

James Robinson
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 10 August 2011 22.49 BST



Ashraf Haziq at the Royal London hospital, where he is recovering
after being mugged in Barking during rioting in London. Photograph: YouTube

Haziq, from Kuala Lumpur, was filmed crouching on the floor after being punched in the face, with the footage broadcast on YouTube and used widely in news bulletins and online.

Several people were seen helping him to his feet and looked like they were comforting him before going through the contents of his backpack and stealing some items.

Haziq, who arrived in Britain a month ago, had been fasting for Ramadan, and was on his way to visit a friend and break his fast, when he was set upon by a gang.

He was due to undergo surgery for a broken jaw on Wednesday.

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/aug/10/malaysian-student-mugged-riots

His friend recorded their conversation in hospital and posted it on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYgBQIQWagM&feature=related

Channel 4 News has translated the footage http://www.channel4.com/news/online-campaign-for-riot-victim-ashraf-haziq">Online campaign for riot victim Ashraf Haziq

ITN report on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8KSOV2Hyd8

Stabbing crime wave is at an all time high...

I'm guessing you must as you're throwing the claim about with wild abandon.

Stabbing deaths and the increase of knife attacks is just another thing that's being ignored in the UK..

Brought to you by using Google...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/knifecrime

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/CrimeJusticeAndTheLaw/Typesofcrime/DG_181675

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/YoungPeople/CrimeAndJustice/TypesOfCrime/DG_172800

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1715687

and cut the police force while they were at it...smart move..

Thanks for the kicks, though.

It happened. The incident was recorded and shown to the world. The victim was interviewed and shown. Would you prefer it if the incident was ignored or toned down? Would that not be media manipulation?

Are you worried that such an incident would give the looters a bad name?

rather than the opportunistic aspect of what it became and something that has been simmering for a long time because the Conservative govt turned a blind eye

...but here, the only "race" that I haven't seen pictures/media of rioting are the "race" of the upper-class in the UK.

Here's a collection:
http://www.dzinepress.com/2011/08/photographs-london-under-riots-looting-and-violence-captured/

All kinds of skin colors, hair, dress types, except for, oh, the obviously rich.

Then again, "rich" that *is* kind of a race there, no?

"Posh" is a compliment, rather than an insult, as is "Royal"?

I wonder why the media is has singled out this case...the media manipulation at work..

comes to mind...

The attack occurred at 10:35 pm on 22 April 1993, as Lawrence waited with a friend, Duwayne Brooks, at a bus stop in southeast London.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Stephen_Lawrence


Not sure what your point bringing in Stephen Lawrence into this discussion is, but there's the facts.

and left with a broken jaw when a group of lowlife scum approached to offer help but instead of help they robbed him.

I don't understand how you can think this scenerio is like any other mugging.

Statistics have doubled under the Conservatives...no-one is asking why.?.at least this guy is still alive...others not so lucky...

They did both.

<threadjack>
Kind of like the US medical system, they helped him get back on his feet... while robbing him.
</threadjack>

http://tinyurl.com/3rrzgtl

According to Scotland Yard the number of recorded knife-crime injuries in London went up from 941 to 1,070 in the three months between February and April this year compared with the previous three months; victims in the 13-24 age group injured during knife crime increased by more than 30% between 2008-09 and 2010-11.

Home Office figures show overall crime fell by 5% in England and Wales

The murder rate in England and Wales has fallen from 644 to 619 over the last year to its lowest level for 12 years.

The fall in the murder rate in the 12 months to September 2010 was accompanied by a 9% fall in gun crime and a 6% fall in knife offences. The 619 deaths recorded on the homicide index was the lowest since the 606 murders in 1997/98.

Both sets of crime figures, the British Crime Survey, which measures people's experience of crime, and the police recorded crime figures show continued substantial falls in offences bringing the risk of becoming a crime victim to a 30 year low.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jan/20/murder-rate-lowest-12-years


I conclude you have your facts wrong, and your refusal to link any support for your claims confirms that.

"a 15 count fatality per week". 15/week = 780 knife deaths a year. That's bullshit, more than ALL murders combined in england AND wales.


Knives were used in almost four out of 10 killings of young people in the UK, more than any other weapon, figures showed yesterday, but the country still had one of the lowest knife death rates in Europe.

More than a dozen young people have been killed by knives in London this year, but the UK rate is 0.23 deaths per 100,000 people. That was among the lowest in Europe, along with Azerbaijan (0.06), Germany (0.23), and Slovenia (0.23), the World Health Organisation figures showed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/sep/21/knives-youth-killings-weapon

There is nothing in your link that supports your claim.

Funny how when I asked politely you were unwilling to link anything, & rudely tell me to look it up myself.

When I do & show that your claim is false, you suddenly have the energy to provide a (worthless) link.

Not resulting in death.

Those are different numbers.

I will assume you are still alive, and thus, can distinguish between injury and death.

to death in the high street..for no apparent reason..

I have...it was tough to deal with the aftermath..still is..

which exceeds the entire number of all homicides in England and Wales. Your number doesn't hold water.

Have some US annual death numbers, for perspective:
Heart disease: 616,067
Cancer: 562,875
Stroke (cerebrovascular diseases): 135,952
Chronic lower respiratory diseases: 127,924
Accidents (unintentional injuries): 123,706
Alzheimer's disease: 74,632
Diabetes: 71,382
Influenza and Pneumonia: 52,717
Nephritis, nephrotic syndrome, and nephrosis: 46,448
Septicemia: 34,828

From:
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lcod.htm

Who's manipulating who, if 780 (that's 52 * 15) deaths a year is a "high" number for causing death?

not figure out what was happening.

England riots: YouTube mugging victim 'recovering'

=snip=

"According to Asyraf, a different group then came and stole his Sony PSP, a game console, but they didn't manage to find his wallet. He thinks they may have been part of the same gang, but there were about 20 people," said Mr Hanafiah.

He said Mr Haziq was "really shaken at that point" but was rescued by a local woman who took him back to her house, and then managed to contact a friend of his through Facebook, who came and picked him up.

Mr Hanafiah said as the swelling got worse, the friend realised Mr Haziq - who had won a scholarship to study in the UK and had arrived in London only last month - needed more treatment and he went to hospital.

Speaking about the attack, Mr Hanafiah said Mr Haziq was "shocked that he had been beaten up, and that he couldn't defend himself", but he believed he was all right.

Full article, which includes details of his friends' 'rescue missions': http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14476828

They've raised £4,000 for him so far: http://somethingniceforashraf.tumblr.com/

6,341 people so far and growing: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Get-Well-Soon-Ashraf-Haziq/197086273685432

2,467,533 views so far on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gex_ya4-Oo

Awful episode. :(

Have you seen the responses at "Let's do something nice...", yet?

:thumbsup:

Sky News article (embedded is a video of an interview with Asyraf after he had the operation): http://news.sky.com/home/uk-news/article/16048380

BBC article (with more video of the interview with Asyraf): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14497763

He says he "feels sorry" for the thugs who attacked him: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le2APBnebUA