Malaysian Student Ashraf Rossli Relives London Riot Attack

Malaysian Student Tells Court Of London Riot Attack

A Malaysian student who had been in Britain for just a month when he was attacked during the London riots relived the moment his jaw was broken in the assault.

Ashraf Rossli, 20, was cycling to keep a scared female friend company on 8 August last year when he was attacked and his bicycle stolen, Wood Green Crown Court heard.

Rossli, an accountancy student, was cycling along a flyover in Barking, east London, when he and a friend, Sheikh Azher, were attacked.

Questioned by Christopher Hehir, for the Crown, Rossli said he managed to get through one group of hoodie-wearing troublemakers who grabbed his bike and rucksack only to be attacked by somebody in a second group.

He told the eight men and three women of the jury on Monday he felt a hand take his mobile phone from his left jacket pocket and as he turned round to look, somebody punched him in the face, breaking his jaw in two places.

He said: "I turned left to see who took it and felt an impact from the right side.

"The impact was hard.

"I don't know how it happened.

"I fell to the ground.

"Blood was coming out of my mouth."

The student did not see who hit him but the prosecution allege it was a 17-year-old who cannot be named because of his age.

The teenager admits stealing the bike but denies causing and inflicting grievous bodily harm. He also denies robbery.

The jury heard that the incident was captured on camera and received widespread publicity last year.

The defendant is not accused of being involved in a later crime in which the contents of Rossli's rucksack were allegedly taken by people posing as good Samaritans.

Two men will stand trial at a later date for that offence.

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