'Backlash' attacks on Turkish men

Police are investigating two "racially motivated" attacks on Turkish people living in Britain.

Both attacks were carried out since the murders last week of two Leeds United supporters in Istanbul.

A Turkish restaurant owner in Sheffield was injured and his business set alight in two separate incidents.

In the first attack on Ibrahim Erceylan on Saturday night, a man with a Leeds tattoo on his neck shouted abuse at customers in the Efes restaurant shortly before a missile was thrown through a window.

On Monday night a man went into the restaurant and struck Mr Erceylan over the head with a bottle.

Two other men beat him about the head with a piece of wood.

Mr Erceylan, a former Turkish policeman, attempted to follow his attackers, but returned to his shop when he noticed smoke.

Fire damage

Firefighters were called and damage was confined to the kitchen and seating areas.

Mr Erceylan was taken to the Northern General Hospital in Sheffield. He was discharged following treatment.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire police said: "We are taking these claims very seriously and are treating them as racially motivated.

"There is an inference that they are connected with what happened in Turkey."

Essex attack

Detectives are also investigating an attack on a Turkish man in Laindon, Basildon.

Yavuz Haman-Kaya, 33, was set upon when he opened his front door to two men, two nights after the Leeds fans' deaths in Istanbul.

Police say the pair hurled racist abuse at the man before the attack.

Detective Sergeant Joel Henderson says he thinks the attack could be linked to the stabbings in Turkey last week.

Leeds supporters Christopher Loftus and Kevin Speight were stabbed to death during street violence in Istanbul on the night before their club's Uefa Cup tie with Galatasaray.