Hammer gang batters boy of 15 in school 'race attack'
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Henry was attacked on Thursday afternoon as he prepared to walk home from the 1,450-pupil comprehensive.
His assailants, who do not attend the school, had spilled out of two cars.
One eyewitness said: "Suddenly these four men ran on to the tennis court. Three of them were in front and grabbed Henry.
"The fourth one, at the back, came running up and had a hammer in his hand.
"He hit Henry over 15 times in the head, back and stomach and then ran off.
"The man was using the pointed end of the hammer to hit his skull. The next thing we saw was Henry lying on the floor in a pool of blood.
"He got up, stumbled a bit, saw the blood gushing from his head and then fell back to the floor.
"My mate called the ambulance and the headteacher rushed to us."
One pupil said the attack may have been sparked by a lunchtime scuffle between Henry and some Asian pupils.
According to witnesses, the were older relatives of one of the pupils in the dispute.
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Last May, six teenagers from Ridgeway were taken to hospital - one with a broken jaw - after a group of men jumped out of two cars and attacked pupils.
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Some pupils say racial tensions emerged two years ago when Asian pupils from the western suburbs of Swindon joined the school, some forming a gang called the Asian Invasion.
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Six men - three aged 19, two aged 18 and one 20-year-old - are being questioned over the attack along with two boys aged 15 and 14.
The eight, who are all from the Swindon area, are being held in custody on suspicion of grievous bodily harm.
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Muslim leader appeals for harmony
By Gareth Bethell
A MUSLIM leader has broken his silence over the hammer attack on 15-year-old Ridgeway School pupil Henry Webster.
Azim Khan, spokesman for the Thamesdown Islamic Association, felt compelled to speak out after seeing the BNP's attempts to make political capital from the incident.
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Mr Khan said: "I have to speak now. Our sympathy is with Henry Webster. He is the victim and we are on the victim's side.
"Our sympathies are with him and we want to pass our sympathies to his mother Liz as she has been through a lot of suffering. We want a quick recovery for Henry.
"There is no them and us. This is not about white supremacists and extreme Muslims.
"I think that we are one nation and one family. Any tragedy is everybody's tragedy."
The far right BNP has said it is considering patrolling Wroughton and manning the school gates, even if it is not welcomed by the school.
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Mr Khan said: "No political party should create propaganda from it. No party should take advantage like that and nobody should hijack the tragedy. "
"A few Muslim children are involved and we are more hurt than anybody."
[These are the moslem children that Mr. Khan speaks of:
Six men - three aged 19, two aged 18 and one 20-year-old - are being questioned over the attack along with two boys aged 15 and 14.
The eight, who are all from the Swindon area, are being held in custody on suspicion of grievous bodily harm. ed A.I. - - - excerpted from the story above...]
Mr Khan and other religious leaders have met the police to try to ensure nothing like this happens again.
"I want to calm things down. Anything we can do to help we will do it," he said."There's no question of black or white, religion or race or creed. It doesn't matter what beliefs you have, we have to live as one family.
"We want to make sure things like this don't happen again. As a Muslim I condemn any violence and support the victim. If we can be any help we will.
"We will work to bring harmony to the community. Our message to the public is we are one family.
"We would never give any chance to any extremism, it doesn't matter what nature. We will never, ever support them.
"Our support is with the school, the community and Henry and his family.
"We want a harmonious society. I was surprised when I saw what happened on that day. Swindon is a nice place to live and we want to keep it that way."
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Pertinent Links:
1) Hammer gang batters boy of 15 in school 'race attack'
2) Muslim leader appeals for harmony
3) BNP
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