A group of teenagers, all 15-16 years old, attacked and killed a stranger of foreign origin just because he came and settled in their town.
40-year-old Polish man has died and his friend is recovering after they were set upon by a mob of up to 20 teenagers.
Police are treating the incident in Harlow, Essex, as a hate crime after the teenagers were spotted shouting abuse at the two men.
They then attacked, leaving both of them unconscious outside TGF Pizza and Mr Luigi’s at 11.35pm on Saturday.
The 40-year-old died last night at Addenbrooke’s Hospital from his head injuries. His friend, 43, suffered hand fractures and bruising to the stomach.
Police have arrested five boys aged 15 and 16 and they continue to be held today.
DI Al Pitcher said: ‘This is now a murder investigation and our enquiries have quickly led to the arrest of five teenage boys.
‘Following this vicious attack, a man has sadly lost his life and I urge anyone with information to contact us as soon as possible.’
He added: ‘The motive remains unclear and we are continuing to keep an open mind.
From our initial enquiries, we understand the victims were chatting and eating together when they were approached by a group of teenage boys.
‘They were verbally abused before being assaulted and knocked unconscious.
‘It is not yet clear how many attackers there were, but the suspects were part of a group of about 15 to 20 youths, both girls and boys.
‘We understand not all these people were involved and we believe there will be witnesses who were deeply shocked by what took place.
Arkadiusz Jozwik died from his injures two days after being attacked in Harlow – from Facebook
The victim’s brother, Radek Jozwik, told the Harlow Star: “He really was a family person who spent a lot of time with my kids, he didn’t have any kids but had been close with my kids.My kids have been with me in the hospital, crying all the time.”
He said: ‘The police have told us he was attacked because they heard him and his friends speaking the Polish language.
‘He was standing eating pizza and they picked on him because of that. He does not speak much English. The young teenagers are so aggressive. After the Brexit vote it has got worse – I have seen people change – it is hard at the moment.”
Speaking ahead of the arrests yesterday, Essex Police detective inspector Al Pitcher said: “This was an extremely vicious and unprovoked attack.
How are they getting filled with so much hatred and thirst for blood at such an
early age ?
When will we, humans, stop being violent in the name of race, language, religion, gender or caste ?
How the fuck do you? Two of my kid’s friends are Polish, several others Russian. How can you breed such hatred into your kids?
Just horrific news.
I don’t know and it could be grimly interesting to find out. Social conditioning? Media propaganda and parental /family / peer propaganda and misinformation? general fear and anger over personal circumstances?
I don’t know for sure, but the fact that British politicians have been blaming Polish workers for taking British jobs is probably part of it.