Was this boy beaten senseless because he’s white? Teenager fighting for his sight after ‘hate attack’ by Asian gang
By Jaya Narain
UPDATED: 01:33 GMT, 8 February 2012
A teenager was left for dead after being chased and savagely beaten by a gang of Asians in a suspected racist attack.
Daniel Stringer, 17, was pursued through a busy town centre by up to eight men and then repeatedly kicked and punched in the head.
He was left in the road, bleeding and barely conscious, as the gang melted away into the night.
‘Why me?’: Daniel Stringer-Prince, 17, pictured with his mother Cheryl, has now managed to open his left eye following the attack in Hyde, ManchesterPolice say there is no evidence of provocation and are treating the attack as a serious hate crime.
Daniel’s family issued pictures of the teenager lying seriously ill in hospital with a fractured skull and fractured eye socket. They say the nerves behind his eyes have been damaged and he could be left with impaired vision.
‘I wish someone would tell me why they left my baby for dead in the road,’ said his mother Cheryl Stringer. ‘I’m lucky to still have him.
Attack: Daniel Stringer-Prince, 17, has managed to open one of his eyes
‘We don’t know the extent of the damage behind his eye until his swelling goes down.
‘He then needs plastic surgery on the eye socket that they broke in two places. He also has several fractures to his cheek that need plastic surgery and he also has a fractured skull.
‘It’s going to be a long, long battle for my gorgeous boy. I still can’t understand why they left him in the road to die.’
Daniel, still in great pain, told how he was cornered by the gang after they chased him through the town.
‘They were older than me,’ he said. ‘One of them grabbed me. He hit me in the face and that’s about all I can remember.
‘I’m upset and feel really down. Why me? I don’t know why they chose me.’
The incident occurred at about 10.15pm last Saturday when he and his best friend Kavan Brown, also 17, were walking in Hyde, Greater Manchester, when they passed a takeaway.
Inside was a group of Asian men and a woman. Without provocation one of the men produced a knife and made a threatening gesture at the teenagers through the window, suggesting they were going to have their throats cut.
Before the attack: Trainee chef Dan Stringer, 17, was repeatedly kicked and punched by a mob of up to eight people after he fell over as they were chasing him down the street
Victim: Police hunting a gang of Asian youths who battered the teenager and left him for dead are treating the savage beating as a ‘hate crime’
The teenager needs plastic surgery on the eye socket that is broken in two places. He also has several fractures to his cheek and a fractured skull
The pair walked on, but moments later the group spilled into the street and began to run towards them. Daniel fell over and was set upon as he lay on the ground.
He had emergency surgery after the attack and will need to return to hospital when doctors attempt to rebuild his right cheek with a metal plate.
Kavan, whose nose was broken in the attack, said: ‘I just can’t understand why it happened. I’d never seen any of them in my life before.’
Police said there were seven or eight offenders who are described as being Asian and in their late teens or early 20s.
They are investigating the assault as a hate crime.
Last night police had a man of 21 in custody on suspicion of assault.
7 February 2012 Last updated at 14:37 GMT
Hyde teenager says unprovoked attack was ‘racial’
Mr Stringer-Price said the pair had been out buying sweets when they were attacked
A teenager who was badly injured in an “unprovoked attack” has said he believes it had a “racial” motive.
Daniel Stringer-Prince, 17, was assaulted by a gang of young Asian men on Market Street, Hyde, on Saturday.
He was kicked and punched by the youths, leaving him with a broken eye socket and a fractured skull.
A 21-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault and a police spokesman confirmed the incident was being treated as a hate crime.
However, the spokesman said no racist comments had been directed at the victim.
‘Not moving’Police said the unprovoked attack happened after the gang goaded Mr Stringer-Prince and his friend Kavan Brown as they passed a takeaway.
One of the attackers produced a knife and made a threatening gesture to the teenagers, who did not respond.
The gang then came out of the takeaway and chased the pair, who tried to run away.
“There was a thought that he wasn’t going to be here with me” – Kavan Brown
Mr Stringer-Prince fell and was attacked while on the ground. Mr Brown was also punched in the face.
The injured teenager said he believed the attack was “racial”.
He added: “But they did take my wallet as well, so there could be a bit of robbery as well.”
Mr Brown said that after the attack, he thought his friend “was dead because he wasn’t moving”.
“It was horrible because I couldn’t do anything to help him,” he said.
“They’d surrounded me as well so I couldn’t move. There was a thought that he wasn’t going to be here with me.”
Det Insp Dave Moores said the attack was “unusual in Hyde, but that does not lessen the impact”.
He said the area around the attack had been busy and anyone who witnessed it should come forward with information.
“A large group of up to eight offenders ran after the victims and anyone seeing it would have been under no illusions of what they were witnessing,” he said.
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