Salesman punched by mob

A door-to-door salesman was robbed and racially attacked in Oldham. The victim, a 20-year-old Asian man, was selling digital TV products on the Limeside estate, in the afternoon on Wednesday, January 5.

He was working around Walkers Road, Oak Road and Firth Avenue.

Throughout the afternoon, a group of five white men were walking around the estate shouting racial abuse at the victim.

At about 6pm, on Hollins Road, the group approached the salesman, grabbed him, racially abused him and demanded his mobile phone and cash before pushing him against a wall.

As they patted his body for items, they tried to grab his mobile but the victim resisted and was punched twice in the head by one of the offenders, who then intimated he had a knife.

PC Andrew Swettenham said: “This was a horrendous experience for this man.”