Man jailed for attacking elderly Sikh in Manchester

London, Oct 10

A man who had punched a 62-year-old Sikh in Manchester "without any justifiable reason" and left him for dead has been jailed for three years.

Claudio Campos, 28, attacked Avtar Singh in broad daylight as he was walking home from work through the Tib Street area of the City Centre on June 23.

Campos, who was with his partner at the time, proceeded to walk up behind Avtar before violently punching him in the head. Singh fell into the middle of the road where he stayed unconscious until a passer-by called for an ambulance.

Singh had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury, a stroke caused by bleeding on the brain and multiple fractures to his cheek, jaw and eye socket as a result of the attack, the BBC reported.

He remains in the hospital requiring 24-hour nursing and medical care.

"This was a horrific attack on a much-loved family member and community leader which deeply shocked the public. I hope today's verdict gives Mr Singh's family some relief that the person who has harmed their husband and father has now faced justice and will be sent to prison," Detective Inspector Mark Astbury, of Greater Manchester Police (GMP), said.

Campos was located with the help of CCTV footage and taken into custody by the GMP in September, where he admitted the assault.

Sentencing Campos, Judge Hilary Manley told him he had attacked Singh "without any justifiable reason".

"As a direct result of your decision to attack him, his life, and the lives of his family, are forever traumatised, changed and diminished. He gave you no reason at all to do what you did," Manley was quoted as saying on the BBC.

The judge rejected the defendant's claim that he was "very sorry".

"When our dad came to this country over 30 years ago, he never imagined that he would be the subject of such a heinous attack which has left him bed bound and in hospital for as long as he has been," Singh's children said in a release issued by the GMP.

"As a family, we are truly heartbroken and still struggle to come to terms with the reality of his future and the truth behind this crime," they said.

--IANS