The father of an international language student murdered in Hastings today spoke of his "loving and innocent" son and demanded swift justice.

Muhammad al-Majed, 16, was punched to the ground by a gang on Friday night as he socialised with friends from his international language school in the East Sussex seaside town. He died in hospital on Sunday.

Abdullah, his father, made an emotional statement after flying to the UK from Qatar to receive his son’s body.

"Muhammed was a young student who was loved by his family, friends and teachers. He was a charming, loving boy and there is nothing that can replace our loss.

"Justice has to be done in all this investigation. All of those involved in committing this crime should be punished for this crime on a young, innocent 16-year-old boy."

Mr al-Majed was today due to accompany his son on a flight back to the Middle East. The body of the child will be buried close to the family home.

Four men have been arrested in connection with his murder outside a kebab shop. Muhammad had been due to return to Qatar in a week.

Ahmed Othman, 16, said he witnessed the attack on his friend on Friday night. He said Muhammad had felt he was targeted by drunken and sometimes racist youths in the town of Hastings.

“I won’t come back here again,” he said. “Students don’t want to return to this area, especially Hastings. Here we have fights and we go home scared.”

Police are treating the killing as a racially motivated murder after Muhammad was attacked by a group of young people whose behaviour had already been reported to police.

Muhammad was leaving the USA Fried Chicken and Kebab Hut restaurant, when his attackers struck. The teenager was beaten, kicked and pelted with bottles by the gang. Police said today that he died from injuries sustained from hitting his head on the pavement.

His room-mate, Abdul Aziz, 17, said: “Muhammad was everyone’s friend. We cannot believe something like this could happen.”

Another friend, who suffered severe bruising and a head injury needing six stitches, did not want to be named. He said: “It’s like a nightmare. I can’t even bear to think about it.”

Muhammad had been studying English at one of the summer language schools in the town. Remzi Tanriverdi, 43, owner of the kebab shop, said that trouble started when a pair of local men turned up.

He claimed that an hour before Muhammad was attacked he had warned police to keep an eye on the group.

Detective Chief Inspector Graham Pratt said the incident began as a verbal assault which escalated into a physical one and Muhammad had tried to avoid a confrontation.

“Muhammad, I believe, was trying to make his way away from the incident and during the course of the incident he has fallen and struck his head on the pavement, sustaining serious head injuries,” he said.

“The questions we need to answer are 'was he assaulted, was he punched or pushed, did he fall?' and try and find the exact circumstances of how it came to be.

“Clearly much of the investigation will seek to establish to what extent race played a part in what happened to young Muhammad.”

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