Shop worker beaten senseless after confrontation with thief

Kazim Meraj, 23, was hit with a brick or a bottle after he confronted a woman he suspected of stealing beer from East End Food and Wine at East End Park, Leeds.

Friends of the suspected shoplifter are thought to have attacked him.

Mr Meraj, from London, had only been in Leeds for two days on a visit to relatives and was helping out in the shop as a favour when the shoplifter tried to take the beer on Sunday evening.

He followed the woman out and took the cans from her as she screamed obscenities and slapped him.

A few minutes later he felt a blow to his head and was knocked to the floor.

He believes he was unconscious for up to an hour.

He was treated in hospital for head injuries and needed 14 stitches inside his lip and four more on the outside. The damage to his mouth has left him barely able to speak.

In a whisper and in tears, he told the Yorkshire Post: “When I came to Leeds I never expected this kind of thing to happen. Sometimes I blame myself and I ask myself why I came to Leeds.

“I am worried about my face and about my family in Pakistan finding out what has happened. I felt dizzy when I woke up this morning. I nearly fell to the floor when I got up.”

Mr Meraj, who is currently unemployed, believes that more than one man attacked him. He suspects they used a brick or a bottle to strike his head.

Detectives are now investigating the attack, which happened near to the shop, which is off York Road.

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said the assault happened in Victoria Grove. He said it was believed the victim had been struck on the back of the head with a brick and knocked to the floor.

The spokesman added: “The offence is believed to have been carried out by an associate of the shoplifter. Both of them left on foot.”

Police have issued the descriptions of four people they want to speak to in connection with the attack. Two are white men in their late teens or early 20s. One was wearing dark boxer shorts and a dressing gown. The other was short in height, wore a red T-shirt, black shorts and white socks but was not wearing shoes.

One of the women was white, slim and in her early 20s. She had dark hair.