AN OFF-duty firefighter was injured after being attacked by a gang of yobs on his way home from work.
The 38-year-old from Littleborough was cycling along Entwisle Road, Wardleworth, just after 6pm last Wednesday when he was confronted by around 15 Asian teenagers.
They started chanting racial abuse before one of the thugs hurled a brick at his head.
Remarkably the victim escaped with minor injuries thanks to his cycle helmet.
He told the Observer: "I felt scared and stunned, but I quickly realised that I’d been very lucky.
"If you get hit in the head you don’t really know what’s happening."
The fireman, who asked not to be named, said he was shocked by the racial abuse and now hopes that community groups will work with mosques in Rochdale to promote tolerance.
He added: "I decided to talk about what happened to me because I think it’s important to raise awareness of these incidents.
"Hopefully it will start a bit of debate and maybe the imams will speak to the youths to reinforce the message that it is not acceptable to behave like this."
His wife said their family was shaken up by the incident and she appealed for witnesses to come forward.
She added: "It was a horrible thing to happen but it could have been a lot worse.
"Fortunately he was wearing a helmet so that stopped him from being seriously injured and somehow he managed to stay on his bike and cycle away from them."
Police confirmed that the incident was being treated as racially-motivated and appealed for witnesses.
Anyone with information should contact Rochdale CID on 0161 856 8552 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
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Showing comments 1 to 9 and replies | View All
bubbleydeb, westmidlands (27/02/2009 at 20:24)
The Chef, Spotland (27/02/2009 at 22:41)
Find them something to do to get them off the streets.Lack of respect and boredom has given birth to this breed of youth culture!
zeesh, Rochdale (28/02/2009 at 08:24)
The Evangelist33, Rochdale (28/02/2009 at 20:10)
A. Spokesperson (02/03/2009 at 09:22)
Muhammed Kamran, Rochdale (04/03/2009 at 00:42)
Big Brother (04/03/2009 at 08:01)
The fireman saying, “I hope the imams talk to these idiots”, is rubbish. What are imams got to do with this! Parents come first and then the school teachers etc etc.
Just because they are of asian origin does not mean they are muslims or attend mosque, if these idiots did then they would be knowledgeable enough to know not go round attacking other human beings!
I don’t hear anybody saying talk to the priest or anything, so lets try not make this into a Muslim issue and stir the pot.
We have enough coverage of such rubbish in the national press.
Choice of words by the fireman could have been better, but I am sick and tired of people trying to stir the pot in town like Rochdale where I grew up. Yes you do get issues with whites or Ethnic minorities but lets not blur the issue.
The problem is that these idiotic youth need to be caught and put in prison for a while, its nothing to do with BOREDOM, that is just a poor excuse of the poor up bringing these youth have from their parents for starters, who in my eyes are FAILURES!
The Chef, Spotland (05/03/2009 at 10:41)
We are not making it a Muslim issue, as I remarked,there is an undercurrent of anarchy within the youth culture brought on by lack of respect and through the lack of something constructive to focus on.
This is why the youths have gone back to basics,which, as in the wild the weak form a pack and are then strong and intimidating. Senseless destruction and violence is their only outlet to be able to be noticed.
These youths may be the perfect son or daughter as an individual within the family unit, so the blame should not always be placed at the feet of the parents.
wickedchop, littleborough (11/03/2009 at 11:35)