LONDON – A Sikh lawyer’s turban waskicked off his head as he was beaten tothe ground in a racist attack outside StPaul’s Cathedral, a court has heard.Rashvinder Panesar and his wife Sundeepwere making their way home from ameeting in the City of London whenthey were set upon, the Old Bailey heard.They deny two counts of racially aggravatedassault occasioning actual bodilyharm. Mahendran also denies assault bybeatingAravinth Kandasamy (left) andLuxmanan Mahendran (right) have beenaccused of kicking a turban off a Sikhlawyer’s head as he was beaten to theground in a racist attack, a court heardWhen Mrs Panesar, also a lawyer, tried tointervene and retrieve her husband’s redturban, she was grabbed and almostknocked to the ground by Mahendran, itis alleged.The court heard Mr Panesarsuffered a fractured nose, a chippedtooth, injured his knee and had both hiscontact lenses knocked out in the allegedattack, which took place in Carter Lane,at around 10.45pm on 26 April 2013.Kandasamy, of Ilford, Essex, andMahendran, of Arnos Grove, northLondon, deny two counts of raciallyaggravated assault occasioning actualbodily harm.Mahendran also denies assault by beating.Prosecutor Louis French said: ‘Mr andMrs Panesar are Sikhs and in the customthat Sikhs have Mr Panesar was wearing aturban, quite a colourful one that night, itwas red.’He said the couple had been to a meetingof the Society of Asian Lawyers.He said: ‘It was about 10.30pm whenthey left the bar, walking together alongCarter Lane crossing a pavement headingtowards the cathedral.‘They went to the roadside and stoodhoping to hail down a black cab.‘The couple noticed three men straightahead of them, one of those men madean offensive remark “tuck me in b****”.‘One of the group said “f*** you we aregoing to put you to sleep, we’re going totuck you in”.‘The two other men joined in theseremarks which were being shouted.‘Another said: “F*** you, don’t you knowwho we are?”‘Mr French said it turned aggressive andthe men ‘seemed to be encouraging eachother’. He said: ‘These three men closedin on Mr Panesar and the verbal abusecontinued, Mrs Panesar was called ab****.’ Mr Panesar was pushed to theground and then set upon by the gang,the jury was told.‘They then started to quite seriouslyattack him by punching and kicking him,’said Mr French.‘He was desperately stood there outnumberedand trying to fend them off.‘But in the course of this violent attackhe was brought down to the groundwhere he was kicked and punched to hisface, body and his back.‘One of the men shouted “let’s kick histurban off ” and that’s precisely what wasdone.‘Mr Panesar’s turban was removed bykicking and another man shouted “kick itaway”. ‘Mrs Panesar ran over and went totry and retrieve it but as she did so shewas grabbed and almost knocked to theground.‘The person who did that wasMahendran.’Both defendants claim that their allegedvictim was aggressive towards them first,the court heard.Courtesy UK’s Daily Mail
