Residents 'still in fear' of happy-slapping thugs

Victims of the "happy slapping" gang who killed a 67-year-old man as he stood outside a mosque with his granddaughter told today how people still live in fear of violent teens in the area.

Ekram Haque, 67, smashed his head on the pavement after being struck to the ground, suffering irreparable brain damage, and died a week after the assault in Tooting, south London, last August, which happened in front of his three-year-old granddaughter Marian.

His attackers, Leon Elcock, 16, and 15-year-old Hamza Lyzai could walk free within months after they were sentenced yesterday over the death of the retired careworker.

Only 20 seconds before the fatal assault on Mr Haque the two killers had attacked Imdad Bukhari and grandfather Atta-Ul-Hasan Mir in the same road with a 14-year-old friend.

Elcock and the 14-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had also attacked an elderly married couple in their own home just days before.

Mr Bukhari, 40, a minicab driver from south London, said he is "lucky to be alive" and said that gangs in the area regularly attack locals.

He said: "It could have been me that was killed. I am lucky to be alive. I watched Mr Haque bleeding on the ground. It all happened in front of his poor granddaughter. I remember how scared she was. She was just telling us to save him.

"Since the attack, I haven't been going to the mosque as much because the area is so bad. People are scared of the gangs. The police are not doing enough to stop it. These kinds of gang attacks are an everyday occurrence in the area now. People are living in constant fear."

A series of "happy slapping" clips were found stored on the 14-year-old's mobile phone. The gang regularly filmed the attacks under the name "Lane Gang Productions".

It comes after it was revealed that more than 160 gangs are operating in the capital. The Gangs in London community group said this week that there has been a 70 per cent increase in the number of gangs since 1999.

Elcock was jailed for four-and-a-half years and Lyzai for three-and-a-half years. Elcock has spent almost a year in custody already and will be freed once he has served two years and three months. Lyzai has served almost a year in custody and will be freed within months.

Mr Bukhari today described the killers' sentences as "a disgrace" and said that attacks will continue if the police do not tackle the gang problem in the area.

Mr Bukhari added: "They should have received a much more serious punishment. They killed an innocent man and now they will be back on the streets soon so something like this can happen again. It's a disgrace.

"These attacks will continue until the police do something about all these violent teenagers."

Mr Mir, 75, a retired engineer from Epsom who was knocked unconscious during the incident, said: "There were months of torture for me after the attack. It was a very difficult time. I had known Mr Haque for years. I couldn't sleep for a long time after it happened and I was getting serious pains in my head. It took a long time to get over."

The Imam of the Idara-e-Jaaferiya mosque where the killing happened, Hassan Rizvi, said: "What happened was very shocking for everyone. People are still very worried. We contacted our MP and the council, and now police come and provide security whenever we have big events. People still feel fear."