Two teenage thugs who attacked a group of Orthodox Jews at a tram stop – leaving a 17-year-old boy fighting for his life in hospital – have been jailed.
Joseph Kelly and Zach Birch, both 17, set upon the three men and a teenager after one of the pair shouted, ‘are you going to make a lot of money?’ which was perceived to be an antisemitic slur based on a Jewish stereotype.
The two youths, who can be named for the first time after reporting restrictions were lifted, had been at a horse racing event with their parents but were told to go home after having too much to drink.
Instead, they attempted to board a tram from Bowker Vale station in Crumpsall, Manchester, to go to a house party, Manchester Youth Court heard.
At the station they encountered Moshe Fuerst, 17, Yisrael Aaron, Yechezkel Bassouss, both 18, and 20-year-old Raziel Polloway.
Kelly and Birch, who were with another friend, were captured on CCTV standing on one side of the tracks goading the group on the other side, who attempted to ignore them.
Realising the atmosphere was becoming tense, Raziel Polloway repeatedly insisted that he and his friends ‘didn’t want a fight’ but Kelly led taunts and walked across the tram tracks towards the group.
Eventually, Kelly began assaulting one of the men until a fight ensued with Birch joining in.
As their victims tried to flee, Kelly gave chase and eventually caught up with Moshe, the youngest, on nearby Middleton Road.
Kelly punched him to the ground and kicked him to the head, leaving him unconscious and gasping for breath on the floor, the court was told.
Kelly and Birch then went back to the station and boarded a tram where they were captured on CCTV drunkenly laughing and joking.
Moshe, who began vomiting when he regained consciousness, was rushed to hospital by the Jewish volunteer ambulance service Hatzolah with cuts and bruises to his head.
He was released the following day but collapsed on a visit to the cinema. He was again taken to hospital where a CT scan revealed a bleed on the brain requiring emergency surgery.
Moshe remained in a coma for four days at Salford Royal Hospital following the attack. He has been forced to quit his part-time job in a takeaway due to persistent headaches and was left with a five-inch scar across his head.
College student Kelly, of Whitefield, Manchester, was jailed for 18 months after admitting GBH with intent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of assault by beating.
Painter and decorator Birch, of Prestwich, Manchester, was sentenced to 12 months after pleading guilty to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of assault by beating.
Kelly was also ordered to pay Moshe £1,000 in compensation. Both defendants were told to pay £200 each to Raziel and £100 each to Yechezkel and Yisrael who had received grazes, cuts and bruises.
The attack was initially treated by police as a hate crime but the racially-aggravated element was later dropped as prosecutors ruled they did not have enough evidence to pursue it.
On hearing that the hate crime element had been dropped, Raziel provided a second statement in which he said one of the attackers had spat towards his kippah after it was knocked from his head during the assault.
He said: “I don’t know if it was aimed at, but if I had my opinion, he aimed at it. After I found out this was not being treated as a hate crime I wanted to report it.”
The court heard the two groups encountered each other at around 11.25pm on September 11, with Yechezkel describing initially seeing three "rowdy" males on the platform opposite.
Kelly, described as the aggressor, repeatedly said, "say something" before running across the track towards Raziel where he punched him in the face.
As the violence escalated, Moshe was cornered by Kelly. Yechezkel said: “Kelly punched Moshe causing him to fall into the middle of the road. Moshe could be heard gasping for breath and then he kicked Moshe to the head from a standing position.
“A passing motorist helped move him and he was vomiting. He said he was hurting and needed an ambulance but wasn’t making much sense.”
In a statement read to court, Moshe said: “The fact I can’t work now upsets me because I worked there for two years and miss the people there. I can’t play on my games console now because I get bad headaches. I experience dizziness and it takes me much longer to get up in the mornings. I don’t want to be left alone when outside.
“I feel disgust towards the people that attacked me.”
Representing Kelly, who had no previous convictions, Sascha Waxman said the teenager couldn’t remember much of the attack because he was drunk.
She added: “He was completely unaware one of the men was wearing a kippah. He had no idea they were of the Jewish religion.”
Acting for Birch, Kieron Henry said: “I raised it with his father as to why he was drinking at the age of 17. They had been to Haydock Races and strayed away from their parents and went to tents they shouldn’t have gone into.”
But sentencing the pair, District Judge James Prowse said: “This is an incident which irrevocably changed the lives of six people. They are from excellent and supportive families. It was only in the cold light of reality long after sobering up that they realised what they had done.
“One of the group – Moshe – is, quite frankly, lucky to be alive. One of the things I have to consider is whether this is a hate crime. I don’t think it was. There were remarks that were made that were objectionable and stereotyping but I don’t believe the lads were attacked because they were Jewish. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
After the hearing, Chief Superintendent Wasim Chaudhry of North Manchester police division said: “This was a vicious and unprovoked attack which has left a young man with a serious head injury and with on-going psychological issues.
“He is scared to leave his home and is understandably anxious about going into public as a result of this attack.
“His friends, too, have been left shaken by their ordeal, which was utterly avoidable and completely unnecessary.
“At the start of this investigation Greater Manchester Police recorded this as a hate crime and investigated it as such.
“GMP take any such allegation extremely seriously.
“However, after our experienced detectives and senior figures within the Crown Prosecution Service examined the evidence closely, it was decided that this assault did not meet the threshold to be treated as a racially aggravated crime.”
