A man has been arrested in connection with an assault on a Sikh priest in the Northern Quarter this summer.
The 62-year-old victim was attacked while walking down Tib Street in broad daylight, and left lying in the road with what his family describes as ‘catastrophic permanent life-changing brain damage’.
In CCTV released by police in an appeal for information, the attacker is seen assaulting the man before calmly walking away from his motionless body.
GMP have now confirmed that a 28-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of a section 20 assault.
As of yesterday evening, he remained in custody for questioning.
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The assault took place on Tib Street in the Northern Quarter and left a Sikh priest with life-changing brain damage. Credit: GMP
The incident, which occurred just before 6.30pm on Thursday 23 June, has been described by officers as ‘severe and mindless’.
The victim – a Sikh priest who walked the same route home every day – is still in hospital.
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His family said in a statement released last week: “On the 23rd of June 2022, our loving and caring husband/father, a 62 year old Sikh priest, had his life tragically altered forever when a thug cowardly committed this heinous act, leaving him in a pool of blood with catastrophic permanent life-changing brain damage and walked away as if it was normal behaviour.
The Sikh priest’s family said that the attacker ‘walked away as if it was normal behaviour’. Credit: GMP
“A devoted husband and father who has lived, worked and supported a community in a city he has loved for thirty-seven years and now cannot even leave the hospital. He worked long hours every day to help his children live the life he never got to and make sure we were raised to help and inspire future generations, raising a teacher, a pharmacist and a soon-to-be doctor.
“A Sikh priest was left for dead on the bustling streets of Manchester, a route he has walked home every day, while people watched on. He was mindlessly and violently attacked and the sick, cowardly individuals are still out there.
“We read horrific things in the news but never expect it to happen to one of your own, a man who could not say a single hateful or negative comment, who taught those around him to practice kindness. We have lost the life of the party, the light in amongst any darkness in our lives and the laughter and joy he brought home every day, has disappeared and left our hearts vacant. We will sadly never get the man back who left for work that day and thought he would walk home to enjoy the nice weather.
“We appeal to anyone who knows anything or knows the offender to come forward, it is more than two months since the incident, and we are no closer to finding them and bringing them to justice for their actions. Our husband/father lives in a hospital bed with life changing injuries not knowing what the future holds.
“Please, please act today not out of hate but to stop this happening again to someone else and tearing another family apart, as we would not wish this anguish on anyone else.”
Featured image: GMP
News
Police appeal after thieves steal 800 barrels of Guinness from HGVs in Cheshire
Emily Sergeant
Police in Cheshire are appealing for information after more than 800 barrels of Guinness were stolen.
Cheshire Police explained that, at around 7:45pm on Monday 31 August, a lorry entered an industrial estate in the Aston Lane area of Runcorn. The lorry is then connected to a HGV trailer containing barrels of Guinness, before leaving the site at 7:55pm and driving in the direction of the Mersey Gateway.
Then, at 9:12pm, a second lorry arrived at the same site in a different lorry and connected it to another trailer containing barrels of Guinness. The lorry left the site at around 9:30pm, in the direction of Rainhill and Watkinson Way.
The estimated total value of all the items stolen is approximately £205,000, police confirmed.
According to police, the trailers are described as white Tri-Axle Curtain side trailers with GXO company branding on curtains and rear doors.
The trailers also have unique ID numbers on their rear doors in the top left corner – with the numbers of stolen trucks being DL736 or DL542.
Both HGVs were believed to have been driven by men. The first man is described as white with a short dark beard and wearing a beanie hat, and the second believed to be wearing a cap.
Officers are now appealing to anyone with any information, or dashcam and video footage taken from around the time of the incident, to come forward.
“It is famously said that ‘Guinness is good for you’, but that is only the case when it has been bought and paid for,” commented Detective Sergeant McClatchy, from Cheshire Police.
“It is with this in mind that we have wasted no time in launching enquires to identify those responsible for the theft of £115,000 worth Guinness and the two trailers that housed the barrels.
“We will settle for nothing less than the full recovery of all the items stolen.”
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Cheshire Police via its website, or by calling 101 and using incident reference number IML-2408641.
Featured Image – Volker Repke (via Unsplash)
News
Police seize convoy of supercars after reports of dangerous driving on M62 near Rochdale
Emily Sergeant
A convoy of supercars has been seized by police following reports of dangerous driving on the M66 and M62 near Rochdale.
On Wednesday, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says its dedicated Roads Policing Unit (RPU) were made aware that a group of individuals driving high-powered vehicles – such as Lamborghinis and Mercedes G-Wagons – were ‘driving dangerously’ at speed, weaving across lanes, wheel spinning, and slowing down to speeds of around 17mph on the motorway.
After finding the convoy of vehicles on the M62, police were able to stop two of Lamborghinis as they were coming off the motorway.
Officers then used specialist tactics to bring the remaining vehicles to a stop in Rochdale.
As a result of police intervention, GMP was able to seize five Lamborghinis and a Mercedes G-Wagon under Section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002, and on top of this, the drivers of the offending vehicles were prosecuted for a number of driving offences.
Police have seized a convoy of supercars after reports of dangerous driving on the M62 near Rochdale / Credit: GMP | Wikimedia Commons
Chief Inspector Danny Kabal, from GMP’s Transport Policing and Crime command, said the force takes road safety ‘very seriously’.
“We will not tolerate careless, inconsiderate, anti-social or dangerous driving on our roads,” he began.
“Recent changes to Section 59 of the Police Reform Act now enables us to seize vehicles without having to issue a warning first. As we intensify our road safety operations and enforcement campaigns, we will use this legislative change as part of our daily business.
“People who think it is acceptable to use our roads as a racetrack need to pay attention to this result and take it as a warning – they will have their vehicles seized and they will be prosecuted, and where proportionate to do so, they will also be arrested.”
Daisy Jackson -
8th September 2022 
