A 16-year-old Middle Eastern language school student has died after being beaten up in what police believe was a racially motivated attack.
Mohammed al-Majed, who was from the Gulf state of Qatar, died in hospital on Sunday night from severe head injuries two days after he and his friends were set upon outside a kebab shop in Hastings, East Sussex. Police are treating his death as murder.
Majed, described by friends as "like a brother to everyone", had spent five weeks in Hastings studying English at the EF International Language School. He had been due to return home next week.
He and his friends were set upon as they left a social club for foreign students shortly before midnight on Friday. They were beaten, kicked and pelted with glass bottles by a group of youths, who stamped repeatedly on Majed's head before leaving him for dead.
Majed's room-mate, Majd Al Ghannamah, 19, who suffered a black eye, said the assailants chanted racist abuse during the attack. "They called me Saddam Hussain and Osama Bin Laden. We just wanted to get away, get home, but they attacked and we couldn't get away," he said.
Another student suffered a head injury needing six stitches. "I blame myself for not saving Mohammed, but where I come from, we are not used to this kind of thing happening. At home, we never need to defend ourselves like that," said the boy, who did not want to be named.
A witness said the police had been warned earlier that evening about trouble brewing between locals and the foreigners. But they went away, and Majed was attacked an hour later. Sussex police said yesterday they had no record of the warning, but admitted officers may well have been in the area before the attack.
Majed had been socialising at a club at the USA Fried Chicken and Kebab house, which has a large area with pool tables at the back used as a hangout by students who come to study English each summer.
The owner, Remzi Tanriverdi, 43, said trouble started after some local youths started drinking alcohol outside the shop. Tanriverdi, a Kurd who moved to Hastings five years ago, asked them to leave, but they refused and verbally abused him.
He said: "After I asked them to leave, I noticed a police car pull up outside. I asked them to keep an eye on the boys, and they said they would - then left. Less than an hour later, Mohammed - who was like a brother to everyone here - had been beaten. The attack was completely unprovoked and without reason."
Tanriverdi said he had complained to the police "more than 20 times" about problems with local youths since he bought the kebab shop in 2005.
He added: "What parent will want to send their children here when they know things like this are happening?"
Yesterday another of Majed's room-mates, 17-year-old Abdul Aziz, said: "We are all deeply shocked at what's happened. Mohammed was everyone's friend. We cannot believe something like this could happen. We will never come back here."
Three males, aged 17, 18 and 20, have been arrested and released on police bail pending further inquiries.
Detective Chief Inspector Graham Pratt, who is leading the investigation, appealed for witnesses. "The young man was a visitor to Hastings and his death is tragic. Our thoughts are with his family."
Sussex police said it had increased patrols in the area to reassure people and would continue to work with language schools to address any issues.
It is estimated that about 30,000 to 50,000 foreign students come to Hastings and nearby Rother each summer.