Hull garage worker speaks of moment rioters attacked premises

A garage worker has spoken of the moment he was forced to run for his life as racist rioters descended on his premises.

Mo Ahmad, who has lived in Hull for 22 years after fleeing war torn Iraq, locked himself inside the garage near Spring Bank when it was attacked on 3 August.

Rioters tried to prise open the shutters, vandalised several cars - setting some on fire - and attacked passing motorists as trouble erupted in the city centre.

CCTV caught a far right mob gathering on Milky Way in Hull before Mo, his 16-year-old son and two customers sprinted into the garage.

“I just saw them coming from everywhere, both sides, coming to attack us so I ran inside said get inside quickly," he said.

"I put the shutter down and they started smashing, banging every car.

“They were trying to lift the shutter up, I was holding it from the inside with my colleague. They wanted to come inside to burn the garage and obviously hurt us as well."

Mr Ahmad's autistic 12-year-old daughter and his wife were also in the garage at the time after walking from the city centre, where taxi and bus services had been cancelled.

He said smoke from burning cars came through the shutters into the garage while they were trapped inside.

He added: "We couldn’t breathe. I managed to take the children to the backyard to try to escape from there.

“Because my daughter was autistic she was panicked couldn’t stop crying."

Nine cars in total were damaged, including Mr Ahmad's. He has spent £1,000 of his own money on repairs. The total cost of the damage to the other vehicles was estimated at £20,000.

Despite fears for his own safety, Mr Ahmad says he has had to return to work to support his family in the face of the repair bills.

“I don’t feel safe," he said. "[Since] that day I didn’t go into town - one month.

"I told my children 'please don’t go out because we are different'.

"There are still people around - they don’t like foreigners, people like me.

"If I could, I would leave this country today, [I would] definitely. I’m still here because my children are educated here.

"Some good people are still around, they come in to see me as well. They feel sorry [for me] but I hope it’s going to be normal again."

Humberside Police enquiries into the incident and several others on 3 August are continuing.

Almost 80 people have been arrested, 46 have been charged and 27 have been given prison sentences totalling more than 65 years.

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