A GP quit his Fife medical practice after being beaten up by young thugs in a vicious racist assault as he left his office.
The doctor, of Pakistani descent, was repeatedly punched and told to “go back to your country” as he went to a nearby shop after his 12-hour shift.
Osama Farooq had only started working at the practice in High Valleyfield two weeks before the incident.
He quit the practice as a result of the assault, saying he did not feel safe working there.
His attacker was 19-year-old Lee Dackers and a younger accomplice.
Dackers, of Chapel Street, High Valleyfield, appeared at Dunfermline Sheriff Court last week.
He avoided a custodial sentence and was ordered to do unpaid work instead.
Racist attack
Depute fiscal Amy Robertson said at around 7pm on April 24 last year the doctor finished his shift and went to a nearby Co-op store on Chapel Street to buy items for the journey home.
The doctor heard Dackers making a racist comment as he stood outside the shop.
He told Dackers he was a doctor who had just finished a 12-hour shift at the medical practice.
The fiscal told the court Dackers said “he couldn’t care less about that, that it was their community and he should go home”.
Other comments made included, “Go back to your own country. No-one asked you to come here” and “You black P*** b*****d. Come on, then I’ll f***ing knife you.”
Dackers grabbed the doctor by the waist and began to strike him on the head and body, as did his young companion.
He tried to drag the doctor into a bush, continuing to punch him as he did so.
A Co-op worker came outside and a passer-by shouted to Dackers: “That’s a f***ing doctor.”
There was no response from the thug, who continued to make racist comments.
Sentencing
Dr Farooq sustained cuts to his abdomen and thigh, as well as bruising.
Ms Robertson said he has since left the practice saying he no longer felt safe in High Valleyfield.
The court was told Dackers had been drinking alcohol before the incident.
He admitted assault and acting in a racially-aggravated threatening manner.
Defence solicitor Chris Sneddon said his client had no previous convictions and the assault was “out of character”.
Sheriff Krista Johnston said the target of the attack was “a person so valuable in the community”.
She told Dackers, “That makes you a disgrace to your community.”
She said he had “narrowly escaped going to detention”.
Instead, she imposed a community payback order with 200 hours of unpaid work and a year’s supervision.
She also ordered Dackers to write a letter of apology to the doctor and bring it to court when his order is reviewed.
It is understood the younger assailant was dealt with through the children’s panel system.
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