Heavily-tattooed attacker launched racist attack on Syrian dad after asking if he was English
Hakam Kharsa, from Syria, says the man lashed out at him following a parking row
A SYRIAN father was beaten up in his car after his assailant asked him if he was English - then told him to "go back to where you came from".
Teesside University graduate Hakam Kharsa had asked his attacker to move his BMW which was blocking a street in Ragworth, Stockton.
The driver responded by swearing at him and bashing his face with a flurry of punches - before barking: "Go back to where you came from you foreigner."
Hakam said: "I have been in the UK for ten years and I’ve never been subjected to anything like it before," said the 39-year-old trained architect.
He claims the assault - which left him in hospital - was a hate crime, the latest in a post-Brexit wave of Teesside attacks against migrants.
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That faith was reaffirmed when a mystery woman took him in her home after the attack so he could call the police.
And speaking of the attack, he said: “I couldn’t get past this BMW so I asked if he could move.
"The guy gave me the middle finger - I said there was no need for that.
"But he came out and asked if I was English, I said 'obviously not' and he started swearing, telling me to 'go back to where you come from you foreigner'."
The assault happened in broad daylight, and left the dad-of-twins bloodied and bruised.
"He punched and kicked me, cutting my eye and left my face bruised - I’m still in pain now," he said.
Police are investigating on the back of a picture of the blue BMW snapped by quick-thinking Hakam as he fled.
But Thursday’s attack has rocked him.
"I swear on my babies' life I haven't been able to sleep," he said. "I've been stressed and shaking at night and my wife has to keep telling me that I was right and he was wrong.
"But I have no problem with British people - 99 percent of my friends are British and since I’ve been here the community has been so great.
"It is a great place that is welcoming and it is just like any other nation, you will find some people who are good and some who are bad. and it is wrong to brush all people with the same brush."
Cleveland Police now want to track the man, who is described as being tall, blonde and heavily tattooed with a strong build.
And for Hakam, currently a takeaway worker, he wants to just say thank you to the woman who took him in during his hour of need - and reminded him not everyone is bad.
"She had a 12-year-old girl and took me in, calmed me down and got me to make a statement to the police," he said.
"I heard apparently the girl was crying at school because of what happened to me, which shows people do care."
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