A Turkish takeaway in Keighley has been attacked twice by yobs out to exact revenge for the deaths of two Leeds United fans

Keighley Kebabs, in High Street, had its windows smashed last Thursday night by a gang stirred up by the violence in Instanbul on the Wednesday that left fans Kevin Speight and Christopher Loftus stabbed to death.

And in the early hours of Saturday one of the replacement windows was broken.

Shop proprietor Isa Meydan, who opened his shop a month ago, is still coming to terms with their actions and is bewildered as to why he has been singled out.

He says: "I can understand people being angry about what happened in Istanbul but I wasn't expecting something like this to happen.

"Because of what happened on Wednesday night, and with Leeds losing, people have gone crazy. I just can't understand the way they think.

"I asked them why they put my windows through and they just shouted obscenities back at me and gestured to me."

The 20-year-old, who lives above the shop, was alerted to the first incident by a friend who phoned him at 11.30pm to tell him two of his windows had been put through.

He went downstairs to keep a vigilant watch over his shop and was disturbed again three hours later when his final window was put through with a lump of concrete. He confronted the vandals who tussled with him before running off towards Damside car park.

"I phoned the police on the afternoon before the match because I was worried about anything happening but someone said 'don't worry about it'," says Isa. "This could have been a petrol bomb instead."

Sgt Allan Gee, of Keighley police, says three men were seen running away from the shop following the second attack, at 2am, on Saturday.

"They smashed the window and ran off. We only have a sketchy description of one man, who is believed to have thrown the stone. He was wearing a light coloured top. All three are believed to be in the late teens or early 20s. We are treating these as racially motivated incidents."

He says anyone with information about the attacks should phone 01535 617059 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Originally from Anchora, Isa moved to this country three years ago and lived in London before moving to Keighley.

He adds: "It hasn't changed the way I feel about Keighley and I will continue running my business."

Keighley racial equality officer Zafar Ali says: "I feel very sorry and sickened for what happened in Turkey, but it shouldn't have filtered back here and individual people shouldn't be dragged into these problems.

"It happened in a foreign country and it shouldn't affect people in Keighley because, after all, we are trying to live in a harmonious and amicable way."

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