london riots

The Malaysian student who was the victim of one of the most shocking videos to come out of the London riots last year has hit the headlines again this week, after his attackers were sentenced to prison.

In August 2011, twenty-year-old Ashraf Rossli was caught up in the riots in Barking, East London. He was punched to the floor, suffering a broken jaw in the process, before apparently being helped to his feet by one of the rioters. However, as he was standing groggily, another man opened up his rucksack and helped himself to Ashraf's mobile phone and PSP games console.

Attackers Sentenced

The two assailants who rifled through Ashraf's bag were found to be John Kafunda, 22, and Reece Donovan, 24. Both were convicted of robbery last week, before being sentenced this morning. Kafunda was jailed for four years and three months, whilst Donovan received a five-year sentence. Ashraf gave evidence in court, describing:

Hundreds of messages for Ashraf Haziq have flooded in from around the world over the last week as the public have shown their huge support for him. After the video of him being robbed became one of the iconic images of the London riots, ForeignStudents.com started a campaign to show our support, and the response has been overwhelming.

The Attack

On Monday last week, Ashraf was caught up in the riots in Barking, East London, where his plight was captured on video. The video shows him sitting dazed and bleeding on a London pavement, before it appears that he is helped up by one of the rioters. However, as he is being held up, another of the young rioters opens his rucksack, searches through it and pulls out his mobile phone and wallet, walking off with both of them.

The victim in one of the videos of the London riots that has most shocked the British public has been revealed as a Malaysian international student. The video shows Asyraf Haziq sitting dazed and bleeding on a London pavement, before it appears that he is helped up by one of the rioters. However, as he is being held up, another of the young rioters opens his rucksack, searches through it and pulls out his mobile phone and wallet, walking off with both of them.

The shocking scene was captured on video and uploaded to YouTube, where it has already been viewed over a million times and played on repeat on British news channels.

Riots that started in small pockets of London on Saturday night, had last night spread throughout much of the Capital as well as to several other cities in the UK. Buildings and cars were set on fire, shops were looted and police were attacked in what are being called the worst riots in living memory.

It all started in Hackney, in East London, as early as 5pm yesterday afternoon, as young people, many of them teenagers, clashed with police. It quickly escalated and spread throughout the Capital as the police struggled to control the widespread violence. By midnight, huge fires blazed and shops had been emptied of their goods in Croydon, Peckham, Lewisham and Clapham in the South of London, Enfield in the North and Ealing in the West.