(UDHAYAM, LIVERPOOL) – Two 16 year olds and a 15 year old were charged guilty recently by the Liverpool Crown Court for attacking Thirukkumaran Sittampalam, a 38 year old Sri Lankan British shopkeeper, at 8 am on 28th December 2016 near the victim’s shop at Norris Green, Liverpool, and the UK.
The teenagers admitted to wilfully harming the victim. One 16 year old was sentenced to two years in prison while the others for eighteen months. While the attackers filmed the attack on their phones, the Police tracked them through CCTV footage and their Snapchat messages prior to the attack.
Sittampalam was repeatedly called a derogatory slang for a pakistani, notes witness Matthew Mclaren. The victim suffered a broken jaw, fractured eye sockets and multiple other fractures. He underwent several surgeries and facial reconstruction.
Judge Elizabeth Nicholls told the attackers, “In an endeavour to show he was not cowed or intimidated by your conduct, he just continued with his work of opening the shop. As he bent down to unlock the padlock – he was completely vulnerable and no threat to any of you – one of you kicked him full in the face. You can see the force of that kick as he fell backwards. The other two of you quickly followed up by kicking him in the head area.”
“All the while, as if this was some form of entertainment to share, with your phone one of you filmed the incident, which is disgraceful and almost the most chilling aspect of this case,” she added.
Nicholas Walker, the prosecutor, said the victim tried telling them he was not from Pakistan, but that was “lost on the males, who continued with their racist abuse. Sittampalam described himself as a man who always supported himself and his family, but the attack made him feel like committing suicide.” (Courtesy – BBC).
