The attack was clearly racially and religiously motivated. If anything, there's a chance it was only religiously motivated (to most Muslim Asians, every white is assumed to be a Christian), yet the sentencing judge simply says it "seemed to have a racial motive." I highly doubt this old man would have been attacked if he was dressed in recognizably Islamic clothing.
From The Telegraph:
A teenager, Amir Rehman, who stabbed and slashed a random passer-by in a brutal racially motivated attack in Manningham, West Yorkshire, has been jailed for five years.
Rehman, 18, shouted racial abuse as 51-year-old Ronald O'Connor walked to a shop for a loaf of bread, near the gates of Lister Park, Manningham, last December.
Leeds Crown Court heard that Rehman shouted: "Manningham belongs to Muslims. We dont want whites. We rule Bradford. We are going to get you out."
His victim tried to get in the shop, but Rehman ran towards him and stabbed him twice in the upper arm with a four to five-inch bladed knife.
Rehman, of Manningham, tried to slash Mr O'Connor's face and the victim also had the palms of his hands slashed as he tried to defend himself.
Richard Gioserano, prosecuting, said: "Rehman was swinging at him over and over again with the knife. Mr O'Connor was in great pain and in fear, literally, of his life."
He ran into the shop, police were called and Rehman was arrested outside.
Mr O'Connor had to have surgery at Bradford Royal Infirmary for a deep laceration to his palm while he also suffered lacerations to his fingers and two incisions to his upper arm with apparent nerve damage.
Rehman and two friends, Amar Farooq and Tanveer Hussain, committed a series of robberies only hours after Rehman appeared at court for a preliminary hearing in March.
The trio were drinking heavily at the time of the attacks and the robberies targeted children on their way home from school.
During the callous street muggings some of the youngsters were threatened with being stabbed, though no knife was seen.
A 15-year-old schoolboy who was making his way home at 3pm on 4 March, was grabbed from behind, punched in the face and had his iPod and mobile phone stolen.
A group of three more pupils, two boys and a girl aged 14 and 15, who saw the attack were the next victims.
Hussain asked to borrow a mobile phone and when all three said they didn't have one, Farooq said: "You have 10 seconds to give me your valuable stuff or I will stab you all."
The girl ran off and Farooq grabbed one boy shoving him against a wall while the other two stole £1.10 from the other boy, said Mr Gioserano.
Their next victim was an 11-year-old boy.
Jonathan Devlin, defending, said there were no explanations or excuses for the offences other than drink.
All three pleaded guilty to three robberies and Rehman pleaded guilty to wounding with intent in connection with the Manningham incident.
Rehman was sent to youth custody for five years while Hussain, 23, of Manningham, and Farooq, 25, of Garlington, were jailed for 30 months.
The judge, Recorder David Bradshaw, told Rehman he had committed an unprovoked attack on an innocent man causing horrendous injuries.
He said: "I am satisfied it was accompanied by racial abuse and seemed to have a racial motive."
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