Three jailed for brawl outside city takeaway (From thisisoxfordshire)

Three jailed for brawl outside city takeaway

9:30am Tuesday 29th January 2013 in News By Joe Nimmo, Senior reporter. Call me on (01865) 425373.

A BRAWL sparked by racist abuse has led to three fast food workers being jailed.

Herish Khoshnaw, 27, Ari Najmadeen, 36, and 21-year-old Mohammed Rasoul all admitted an affray on the evening of March 11 last year.

The three were caught on CCTV fighting and wielding weapons – a baseball bat, a metal scraper and a belt respectively – in Gloucester Green, Oxford, outside the Chicken Shack where they worked. They told police they had received regular racist abuse and personal taunts from a group of customers and had been provoked into losing control.

At Oxford Crown Court yesterday Khoshnaw, of Dashwood Road, Rose Hill, was identified as most responsible and was sentenced to 12 months in prison.

Najmadeen, of Coverley Road, Headington, received eight months and Rasoul, of Pipkin Way, East Oxford, was handed four months.

Defending Khoshnaw, Jane Malcolm sad her client was remorseful, but had snapped after being subjected to racist abuse.

She said: “He realises now that the men were trying to goad him outside for a fight.

“He only took a weapon with him for his own safety, because he was scared what might happen when he went outside.”

But Judge Patrick Eccles told them: “What you three have to understand is that the courts simply cannot allow restaurant or fast food workers to take the law into their own hands.”