Man jailed for attacking elderly Sikh in Manchester
Darpan News Desk IANS, 11 Oct, 2022 05:09 PM
A man who had punched a 62-year-old Sikh in Manchester "without any justifiable reason" and left him for dead has been jailed for three years.
Claudio Campos, 28, attacked Avtar Singh in broad daylight as he was walking home from work through the Tib Street area of the City Centre on June 23.
Campos, who was with his partner at the time, proceeded to walk up behind Avtar before violently punching him to the head. Singh fell into the middle of the road where he stayed unconscious until a passer-by called for an ambulance.
Singh had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, a stroke caused by bleeding on the brain and multiple fractures to his cheek, jaw and eye socket as a result of the attack, the BBC reported.
He remains in hospital requiring 24-hour nursing and medical care.
"This was a horrific attack on a much loved family member and community leader which deeply shocked the public. I hope today's verdict gives Mr. Singh's family some relief that the person who has harmed their husband and father has now faced justice and will be sent to prison," Detective Inspector Mark Astbury, of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), said.
Campos was located with the help of CCTV footage and taken into custody by the GMP in September, where he admitted the assault.
Sentencing Campos, Judge Hilary Manley told him he had attacked Singh "without any justifiable reason".
"As a direct result of your decision to attack him, his life, and the lives of his family, are forever traumatised, changed and diminished. He gave you no reason at all to do what you did," Manley was quoted as saying in the BBC.
The judge rejected the defendant's claim that he was "very sorry".
"When our dad came to this country over 30 years ago, he never imagined that he would be the subject of such a heinous attack which has left him bed bound and in hospital for as long as he has been," Singh's children said in a release issued by the GMP.
"As a family, we are truly heartbroken and still struggle to come to terms with the reality of his future and the truth behind this crime," they said.
The Foreign Secretary stated that External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has spoken to his Polish, Romanian, Hungarian, and Slovakian counterparts for setting up a camp at border areas for evacuation of stranded Indian nationals. He also stated that flight options are available through Dubai and Istanbul and that the Indian Embassy continues to be operational in Ukraine.
The Ministry of External Affairs in touch with all the neighbouring countries surrounding Ukraine to even evacuate Indian citizens. Many citizens who were to fly back to India were left at the airport after closure of Ukrainian airspace following Russia's Vladimir Putin announcement of a military operation in Ukraine.
Amidst the prevailing tension, the Indian students stranded in Ukraine are left with no choice but to queue up outside the Indian Embassy in Kiev seeking the authorities' help as they ran out of food and money. The Russian military actions in Ukraine have triggered panic among all sections, including students from India.
Clashes have also been taking place around the capital Kiev in the north and the Black Sea port cities of Odesa and Mariupol in the south, the report said. Air strikes from Russia have been carried out on Ukrainian military bases and airports, with fierce fighting reported around a key airport near Kiev.
The top of the Tower shone bright with a burnt orange top Tuesday, February 22, 2022 to celebrate student Jaskaran Singh’s victory in the “Jeopardy! National College Championship" shared the university's website.
Students at the Ternopil Medical University in Ukraine capital Kyiv are in constant touch with the Indian Embassy. The varsity is also extending assistance to the students. There are around 20,000 Indian nationals in Ukraine. Most of them are medical students.
