Tearful dad's plea after Manningham attack (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Tearful dad's plea after Manningham attack

9:50am Friday 19th March 2010 in

By Will Kilner »

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A tearful dad has called for an end to knife crime on the streets of Bradford after his 15-year-old son suffered seven stab wounds and a fractured skull in a late-night attack.

Abdullah Chunara, who lives with his family at Clifton Villas, Manningham, suffered serious injuries after the attack in the Manningham Lane area.

A section of Mornington Villas and a snicket was cordoned off by police yesterday following the incident at about 10pm on Wednesday.

Detectives have since arrested a 16-year-old boy in Manningham on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm.

Mohammed Chunara, the victim’s father, said: “Only the day before, I had been reading the T&A with the front page article about a 19-year-old being stabbed to death in Bradford Moor, then this happens to my son.

“It’s shocking. I don’t know what’s happening to the youth these days. The knife crime needs to stop. As children, we used to occupy ourselves in all sorts of ways – cricket, football and cards.

“There was seldom any trouble, but lifestyles seem to have changed. The youths have gone crazy – the way they drive, their whole attitude – and they don’t understand how to enjoy themselves without getting into trouble.”

Mr Chunara, 46, visited his son at his bedside at Bradford Royal Infirmary last night.

He said: “He’s stable and it’s not life-threatening, but the doctors are going to do some further investigations on his wounds to see if there’s any other damage.

“He is talking but he is in great pain each time the morphine wears off. He’s got seven stab wounds and a punctured lung.”

Mr Chunara said he was at a loss to understand why anyone would do this to his son, who he described as a “friendly, bubbly and lovely lad”.

He said: “He does sometimes get into trouble, but he’s a loving and caring lad. I have often spoken to him about the dos and don’ts and good citizenship.”

Mr Chunara, who suffers from Crohn’s Disease and depression, said the incident had rounded off a torrid year for his family.

His 44-year-old wife, Tahera, was recovering from breast cancer and had undergone a mastectomy a few days ago.

Mr Chunara said: “This was the last thing we needed.”

Police confirmed Abdullah sustained puncture wounds and a fractured cheekbone. The fractured skull was being treated as the most serious injury.

Comments(13)

Old Peculiar says...
8:59am Fri 19 Mar 10

Late night knife crimes and shootings are not normally "random", they are generally pre-meditated and connected to some other more sinister issues. I'm not suggesting this incident was connected to anything else, but the father comments that back in his childhood, this type of incident was rare. But with drug dealing around the inner city areas of Bradford being more and more heavy handed, this type of attack is unfortunately becoming a lot more frequent.
Sympathies to the families, who have done what they can to bring up their children the best way they can.