Accused in Young bashing appear in court

Randeep Cheema and Ravinder Toor, the two men charged in the alleged Jul 30 attack on Russell Young at the corner Burrard and Davie in Vancouver, appeared briefly in court Aug 15.

They are scheduled to appear again Aug 29, but no trial date has been set.

Cheema and Toor are charged with assault causing bodily harm after Young alleges two men beat him unconscious and left him with multiple injuries including a badly fractured leg.

Young told Xtra West Aug 13 that in the wee hours of Jul 30, after a night at Numbers, he was having a snack in front of the Esso service station when two men got out of a taxi and attacked him. He says one of his assailants said “we hate your kind” before he smashed Young in the face.

“It appears the crime may be generated by the victim’s sexual orientation,” Vancouver Police Department (VPD) spokesperson Howard Chow told Xtra West Aug 16. “The initial facts do point to hate crime overtones, but all that is to be determined by the court.”

Young says he’s had the staples removed where surgeons at St Paul’s hospital stabilized his broken leg with plates and screws. He says doctors won’t know how well he will heal until they see how well he responds to physiotherapy.

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