STATHAM: FATHER AND SON CAGED FOR RACIST RAMPAGE
A father and son who laid siege to their local community centre in a racist attack on Turkish staff are behind bars today (Mon).
Scott Statham, 22, marauded bare-chested with a group of men through the busy Whitmore Centre in Hoxton, north London, in search of staff member Ertac Hassan.
He stormed past families and children on July 30, checking each room in turn before locating the victim in a back office.
Scott Statham screamed abuse at Mr Hassan, calling him a ‘Turkish prick’ and saying he was ‘dead’, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.
The thug then pushed his victim into a radiator, yelling: ‘you think you can come over here and take our jobs, you Turkish b**tard.’
When Mr Hassan’s brother Ergal, who works at the same centre, tried to intervene, Statham grabbed him with ‘considerable force’ and shoved his way out of the room.
Ergal Hassan called police and was told to wait in the front office, where he could see the defendant’s father Brian Statham, 43, leaning on railings outside.
Brian Statham was shouting threats to burn him and torch the centre, calling him a ‘Greek c***’ and a ‘little Greeky nonce.’
A month later, on August 31, Ergal Hassan was standing outside the Phillipp Street building when Brian Statham approached with his partner and daughter.
Statham said Mr Hassan was ‘not getting away’ with his son being charged and warned the brothers would not ‘make it to court.’
Brian Statham, who has 46 previous convictions, was jailed for a year after admitting witness intimidation and making threats to kill.
His son Scott was jailed for six months after pleading guilty to racially-aggravated assault and common assault.
Passing sentence, judge Wendy Joseph QC described Scott Statham’s behaviour as ‘despicable.’
She said: ‘Ergal Hassan was working, providing services to the public in a place where children must have been expected to be and were.
‘He was vulnerable because of his position and the limited way he could properly react to what you were doing.
‘The headbutt was an assault using the equivalent of a weapon.
‘I suspect this was part of a campaign by your family against the centre staff, in particular the Hassans.’
Scott Statham had previously been barred from the centre, while his father had made an apparently unfounded complaint about its staff, the court heard.
Just before the attack on July 30, police had been called to an incident at the Statham family home in (57) Phillipp Street, Hoxton.
Ertac Hassan was on the street at the time and became aware of the disturbance, at which point Scott Statham came over and threatened to kill him.
The thug went on to follow Mr Hassan into the community centre, which was closed at the time for a film project.
