Thugs threaten Kenton butcher with knife

Aug 17 2010 By Ian Proctor

Talhat Rehman was attacked by knife-weilding thugs

A BUTCHER from Kenton claimed knife-wielding thugs threatened to cut off his hand – the second time he has been intimidated in two months.

Last month, grandfather Talhat Rehman, 52, of Lindsay Drive, was driving home when a black BMW cut in front of him to force him to stop, and he was hauled out of his car at gunpoint and beaten with sticks.

His attackers, all Asian, gave him a verbal warning about a private matter that cannot be fully explained for legal reasons.

Then on Saturday evening, Mr Rehman was leaving the family business - Kassam Halal Meat butcher's n Kingsbury Road, Kingsbury – by the rear door when he was targeted again.

"I was coming out of my shop and there were three eastern European guys standing there and one came to me holding a knife," he recalled. "It was a hunting knife and he held it against my tummy and twisted my arm.

"They took me a yellow car and pushed me in. They were four: one in the driver's seat and three others. They phoned a number on a mobile phone and put it on loudspeaker and said: 'She wants to talk to you' and a lady came on the phone."

The woman on the other end of the line reiterated the previous threat before hanging up, Mr Rehman said.

"The men said if I called the police, they would harm my family. They said: 'If you say anything, we know where you're grandchildren go to school.' They threatened to cut off my my hand then they pushed me out the car. It lasted just a minute and a half.

"On the Sunday I went to hospital and they gave me strong painkillers. Some of the veins are damaged in my arm."The 52-year-old added: "If I call the police, I will put my family in danger. It's a risk – they are serious."

He said he has reported the incident only to his MP, Labour's Barry Gardner, whose office told the Observer the "necessary steps have been taken".

Mr Rehman's son has installed closed-circuit surveillance cameras at the family home as a precaution.