LONDON (AP) — Authorities in London have charged six more people in the vicious beating of a teenage asylum-seeker, bringing the number of defendants in the unprovoked attack to 13.
Eight people, including a 15-year-old boy, appeared in court Tuesday to face charges from the Friday attack on 17-year-old Reker Ahmed, which police are investigating as a hate crime.
Ahmed, an Iranian-Kurdish asylum-seeker, was waiting at a bus stop with two friends when they were approached by a group of youths in the London borough of Croydon, according to police.
Police say that upon learning the teen was an asylum-seeker, the suspects chased him through the streets and beat him. The attack stopped only after police sirens could be heard and bystanders intervened.
Ahmed suffered a fractured spine, fractured eye socket and a brain bleed. He was placed in an induced coma.
The eight defendants who made court appearances Tuesday were granted conditional bail. Five others appeared in court on Monday, one of whom was remanded into custody.
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