African youths in frenzied attack on Melbourne motorists

This is their thanks for being taken in as refugees. It does go some way towards explaining the attitudes of Sudan's Arabs towards them

A GANG of African youths has attacked motorists in what police suspect was an attempted carjacking. Peak-hour drivers cowered in their cars on a Carlton North street as a driver, her male passenger and another motorist were set upon. Joy Bennett, 21, was waiting at lights in Rathdowne St when the gang began battering her late model Mitsubishi sedan with bricks, smashing its front and rear windscreens. The gang punched Ms Bennett's passenger, Josh Winnell, through his open window and threw a rock through another window.

The mob also turned on a driver who had pulled over to use his mobile phone. When the man refused to get out of his car, the group tried to smash the driver's side window.

Ms Bennett, of Montrose, said the men "came from nowhere". "We were on our way home and had pulled up to the lights. We were there for a matter of seconds when a group of guys surrounded the car," she said. "When the guy was at the window with the brick, I thought he was going to throw it and get me. I was scared they were going to get Josh out of the car. "I had no idea what was happening. I didn't know what they wanted. This doesn't happen, not in real life." Mr Winnell, 24, said: "I remember them trying to grab and punch me. I was in shock. I wanted to get out of there."

The attacks began on Rathdowne St, near Alexandra Pde, at 6.45pm on Friday. It was believed the gang might have been on an attempted car-jacking spree. Sen-Constable James Midgley said the three victims and witnesses had described the men as African. "It's a very random and brazen attack that's occurred at a major intersection at peak hour," he said. The incident is the latest of several involving Africans. Police came under siege recently in brawls involving about 200 youths that closed a suburban cinema and shops.

Those involved on Friday were described as in their late teens to early 20s. One wore a hooded black zip-up top with a white stripe. Police urged anyone who saw the attacks or had information about the men involved to phone Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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