I was beaten up just for being French but I still love London, says banker

 
p29 Jonathan Agostini, a French banker who was hit over the head with a bottle and punched last year in a racist attack. He has give us the picture on the proviso we say who tailored the suit he is wearing in the caption. It was tailored by Delvero. PICTURE SUIPPLIED BY Agostini, Jon [mailto:jon.agostini@jpmorgan.com] REF: NIGEL HOWARD
PICTURE SUIPPLIED BY Agostini, Jon
Lindsay Watling18 March 2013
WEST END FINAL

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A French banker injured in a City bar in a racially motivated attack said today he still “loves London” and will not leave, after two of his attackers were jailed.

Jonathan Agostini, 27, was hit with a bottle and kicked and punched in the head at The Light Bar by a gang of up to five men who targeted him because he was French.

He needed 12 stitches in a cut on his head and was so traumatised he could not go out for several months. After a trial at Snaresbrook crown court, two of the gang, Zack Gilbert and James O’Docherty, both 20, were each sentenced yesterday to five years in a young offender institution for wounding and assault.

Neither defendant, both from Woodford Green, wielded the bottle during the attack in May last year, but Gilbert held Mr Agostini down while O’Docherty kicked him repeatedly in the head, taking a run-up each time, the court heard.

Mr Agostini, from south-eastern France, has been based in the UK for eight years and lives in north-west London. He welcomed the sentence.

“They came up to me and said, ‘F*** off, you French c***,’” he said. “I was punched and bottled over the head. After being attacked like that, I didn’t go out to public places for a few months. I’m still very careful when I go out now and about who I interact with and what I say.

“It will not change my opinion of London, not because some stupid kids behaved like that. This will not drag me down. Justice is done now. They will have a criminal record and their future is ruined, but hopefully they will learn from their mistake.

“Fortunately for me, I don’t have any subsequent damage except the scar on my head which is now covered with hair. I could have died or lost an eye, so in fact I was fortunate. I will try to move on now and leave it in the past. I still love London.”

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