MANCHESTER : LES MUZZ (EN ANGLAIS : "ASIANS") ATTAQUENT !
Police fear new riots as white youth dies after fight
by KEITH BEABEY,Extra police were on standby this weekend amid fears of race riots after a white teenager died following an alleged attack by a group of Asians.
The reinforcements were drafted into the town of
Oldham (ndlr: Banlieue "chaude" de Manchester), Greater Manchester, scene of bitter race riots between gangs of white and Asian youths last summer. Police also fear that the National Front could march on the town following the incident.
The moves follow the death of Gavin Hopley, who was attacked after he mistakenly wandered into the town's Glodwick area - a hotbed of racial tension in the town.
Gavin, 19, who worked for a local shopping centre security firm, was with two friends trying to find a taxi to take them home in the early hours of last Saturday when the attack happened.
They were suddenly surrounded by at least a dozen Asian youths, some armed with lumps of wood and heavy clubs. After a scuffle, Gavin was left unconscious in the road. His friends escaped, one of them leaping a garden fence before being rescued from his tormentors by Good Samaritan Mohammed Umar and his family.
Gavin was found by a passer-by and taken to the intensive care unit of North Manchester General Hospital. He was on the critical list for a week, but failed to regain consciousness. He died late on Friday night.
The teenager lived with his parents in Whitworth, a small town about seven miles north of where he was attacked. At his home yesterday, his family was too distraught to talk of what happened.
But a police spokesman said: 'The racial aspect is an open question at the moment.
Clearly, it is one of the strands of the investigation, but we can't nail that down at the moment.'
After the attack, three Asian men, Pongki Miah, 38, Suleiman Hussain, 34, of Landseer Street, Glodwick, and Ruhel Miah, 21, of Frederick Street, Oldham, were charged with grievous bodily harm.
But after the teenager's death, police were yesterday questioning the men further. A police spokesman said: 'We are now investigating a murder.'
Earlier, another Asian youth, 18-year-old Zallal Udin, of Glodwick, appeared before local magistrates charged with stealing a watch and chain belonging to Gavin. And a 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared in the same court accused of violent disorder. Both were remanded in custody and are due back in court on Wednesday.
Two other un-named men, one a 29-year-old and the other aged 20, also from Glodwick, were arrested yesterday on suspicion of murder.
Police are appealing to local people to keep calm.
'We hope they will let the police deal with this,' said a senior officer. 'It would seem Mr Hopley and his friends had enjoyed a night out when they got involved in a dispute with a gang of Asians. We don't know what sparked the attack.'
However, tension was mounting in the town yesterday, where shopkeepers were preparing to board up their stores.
One local resident said: 'They claim there is not a no-go area in this town.
But if you put a foot in the wrong street, you could easily end up like young Gavin.'
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