SA man attacked in London
2005-08-10 07:26
London - A South African lost an eye on Tuesday and had to undergo plastic surgery to his face after he and two other people from Gauteng were assaulted by a gang of British youths in the city about two weeks ago.
Grant Nock, 25, a telecommunication specialist who lives and works in London, and two of his South African friends were still dressed in their Springbok jerseys after watching the game between the Aussies and the Boks on television in a popular bar called The Walkabout, when they were attacked.
The bar is particularly popular among Aussies, Kiwis and South Africans in London.
When the friends got off the bus in Southfields, West London, after midnight, they saw about 10 youths drinking beer on the sidewalk. The youths were aged between 14 and 18. They attacked the South Africans with bricks and broken bottles and followed on their bicycles when the South Africans tried to flee on foot.
Nock said the youths told them several times during the attack that they should leave the country "or carry the consequences".
Speaking from his hospital bed on Tues, Nock said: "Going home is not an option at present. I will not give in to them."
A friend of Nock, Lisa Conidaris, 24, who was with the men when they were attacked, said the boys threatened to call their fathers to join them in the assault. "I ran into a block of flats and waited in a stranger's flat for the police and an ambulance to arrive," she said.
She said police were shocked by the amount of blood found on the scene of the attack.
Another friend of Nock, Nick Webb, 26, lightly injured his leg and was hit over the head with a brick.
'Culture of thuggery'
Nock's parents, Peter and Lyn Nock from Honeydew Ridge in Johannesburg, left for London in haste to support their son. They are "very bitter" about what happened to their oldest child. They believe the British government is losing the fight against a growing culture of thuggery.
Although the South Africans believe the attacks were prompted by xenophobia, Scotland Yard said on Tuesday that they do not believe the attack to be race related. They have not yet arrested anyone in connection with the attack, which happened on July 13.
Statistics show that more than 206 000 assaults were reported in Britain over the past year. That is 9.7% more than the previous year. It is not clear how many of these attacks were directed at foreigners.
Doctor Martin Skinner, a psychologist at Warwick University, said the terrorist attacks in London last month made British thugs even "more aggressive and violent".
He said some British citizens felt threatened by foreigners and uneducated youths were more prone to hate foreigners and succumb to racism.