British 18-Year-Old Remanded for ‘Brutal, Unprovoked’ Attack on Two Jewish Men in London
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by Algemeiner Staff
The perpetrator caught on camera viciously assaulting two Jewish men in London on Jan. 26, 2022. Photo: Shomrim / Twitter screenshot
A British 18-year-old was remanded in custody on Friday after being charged for a vicious assault on two elderly Jewish men in the London area of Haringey.
Malaki Thorpe was arrested on Thursday by Metropolitan Police after surveillance footage captured him brutally assaulting two Orthodox Jewish bakers who were closing up shop on Wednesday night.
Footage of the assault shared on social media by the Shomrim neighborhood watch group showed one of the men on his cell phone as the other prepared to locking the store.
They appear to hear a comment made by a passerby dressed in black, who then throws a bottle at them and begins punching them repeatedly. When one man stumbles, the culprit chases them down the block to continue his assault. He then calmly walks away, kicking aside a kippah belonging to one victim that had fallen to the ground.
#HateCrime #Antisemitism #Horrific | 2 Jewish men #Attacked
Cadoxton Avenue #N15
The brutal, unprovoked attack saw the victims knocked to the floor by vicious punches to the head@Shomrim located the suspect through #CCTV enquiries #Arrested by @MPSHaringey
CAD 7284 26/01 pic.twitter.com/rCXrFITVAI— Shomrim (London North & East) (@Shomrim) January 27, 2022
The two victims were taken to a London hospital for treatment.
Thorpe appeared at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court on Friday on two counts of racially aggravated actual bodily harm and one count of possessing an offensive weapon.
He pleaded not guilty, and was held by the judge in custody ahead of a March 3 hearing.
Speaking to the UK’s ITV News on Thursday, one of the victims said he was left with a swollen jaw and a sprained wrist.
“People get scared to walk on the streets,” said the man, who declined to give his name. “We definitely feel that this is rising, we definitely feel that there’s more of that, and we feel more vulnerable, that’s for sure.”
“This did not used to happen a year or two ago, so much,” he continued. “I’m proud to be Jewish, even though I might be scared.”
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was among those condemning the outrage, saying Thursday he was “appalled” by footage of the attack and thanking police for the swift arrest.
“This attack is a terrible reminder, on Holocaust Memorial Day, that such prejudice is not consigned to history, but remains a very real problem in society. We must stamp out antisemitism,” Johnson said.
