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POLICE HAVE CHARGED a 20-year-old man with robbing an injured Malaysian student whose videotaped attack during the London riots drew outrage in Britain.
About 20 teens and preteens surrounded Mohammed Asyraf Haziq Rossli during the unrest that swept the capital last week, grabbing his bike and cell phone and breaking his jaw.
A video that chronicled the attack shows youths pretending to come to the aid of Rossli — even as they unzipped his backpack and emptied it.
The video went viral and caused shock. UK Prime Minister David Cameron described it as a sign of a deeper societal malaise.
Metropolitan Police said Saturday that Reece Donovan, 21, of Milton Court, Cross Road, Chadwell Heath, Romford, has been charged with stealing a portable Sony Playstation and Nokia mobile phone from Rossli as he bled on the pavement on Monday 8 August.
Donovan appeared at at City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court, reports the Belfast Telegraph, speaking only to confirm his name, date of birth and address. He was denied bail.
Rossli has said that he harbours no ill-feeling towards his attackers or those who rifled through his belongings after he was injured, reports the Daily Mail. ”My family are worried about me and my mother would like me to go home. But I am determined to stay. I feel very sorry for the people who did this. It was really sad because among them were children,” he said.
Additional reporting by the AP
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I watched this footage on Sky News last week and was horrified; what a brave young man. These thugs need to be made suffer not only for the crime/crimes they committed but also for how the tarnished the reputations of those who were out there trying to assist in restoring calm and a little faith in human kindness.
What a lovely and honourable person the victim, Rossli, is. So forgiving. I hope he gets on with his life and with that approach he deserves to do well.
Brilliant hope he gets a long sentence, I watched that on you tube and was sick to my stomach!
Here in Ireland, he wouldn’t yet be arrested, and if so, it would be the same story. We read it every day. " A file is being sent to DPP. And he would be let roam the streets to torment more innocent people.
What a rubbish generalisation.
I noticed that in previous articles about the riots that there were a lot of comments bemoaning the woes of an evil society that marginalises those on the edges of society. The implication is that somehow the Western European social model, and we as its citizens, are really the ones responsible for the riots, and must show some empathy for the disaffected.
It will be interesting to see how that sentiment prevails after watching this video.
Glad he’s caught….all thanks down to mobile videos everywhere!
I’m puzzled by the people who have “thumbs down” on the above comments! Particularly the 5 people who thumbed down Sean’s comment!
Anti Muslim or scum themselves? ……
I believe its called ‘trolling’ Christine….just the percentage of internet weirdos that are out there popping their head up.
Trolling, as defined by urbandictionary.com… “Being a prick on the internet because you can” or “Trolling is the act of purposefully antagonizing other people on the internet, generally on message boards.”
Scum scum scum. Absolutely delighted one has been caught and hope the others are too. Total lack o basic humanity and compassion? These scumbags don’t deserve to be free to walk among us?
Sorry kept hitting? By accident!
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