Magdalen Student Racially Attacked
An Oxford student suffered a barrage of racial abuse before being mugged in a busy area of Oxford. Hussein Omar, a first year historian at Magdalen, was attacked at the junction between the High Street and Longwall Street close to his college at around 11pm on Sunday night. Omar, who is of Egyptian nationality, was walking on his own leaving his college accommodation, when he was approached by a man who subjected him to racist taunts.
Omar said the man shouted: “Go back to your country and get out of mine.” The man, who Omar described as around 5’ 10”, medium build, with very short dark hair, kicked the Magdalen student before grabbing his neck and then robbing him of £25. “I was a bit shook up,” said Omar. “It’s a bit strange; this was racist to begin with and then the mugging happened almost like an afterthought.
“It was as though he wanted to shout racist abuse at me, but then decided he might as well mug me.” Omar called the police, but they were unable to find the man. Omar said other students at Magdalen believe the attacker may have been a man who has caused disturbance in the area before. This attack is the latest in a long line of similar incidents in the area. Last year The Oxford Student reported how student Marcus Dubois was thrown from Magdalen bridge by a tramp.
Earlier in the year, a St Hilda’s student was robbed by a man carrying a screwdriver on Magdalen Bridge, just four weeks after another student was attacked in the same spot and thrown from the bridge. A number of students have raised concerns about safety in the area, which is heavily populated with students, at nearby Magdalen, University, St Hilda’s and Queen’s Colleges. Student Union VP (Welfare) Nicky Ellis told The Oxford Student she was concerned over student safety.
However, she believes Omar dealt with the situtation correctly. “I would urge students to report any such incident to the police immediately,” she said, “and tell college authorities what has happened."
2nd Jun 2005