Three convicted after vicious attack on third year international student

Three men have been convicted of a vicious attack on a Dubai student studying at Edinburgh. 

21-year-old Arun Nair, a Civil Engineering student, suffered life threatening head injuries after he was attacked walking home with friends in the Dalry area in April last year.

He was punched, kicked and struck repeatedly with a metal bar.

The attack was so severe the victim spent 18 days in hospital unable to eat or drink and was forced to miss his May exams.

Nair was leaving a Dalry flat where he’d spent a night with two other UEA international students, playing board games and having a takeaway with drinks.

Once outside the flat a drunk man began shouting abuse at the students and called them: “You brown faggots”.

Angry, the victim swore at the man, who then pressed the buzzer to one of the flats and a gang of four or five men, including the accused, ran out.

A friend hid behind a car while the men launched a brutal attack on Nair, knocking him to the ground, punching, kicking him and hitting him with a metal pole.

Dalry Road, where the incident took place

Afterwards the victim staggered to his feet and moved alone and disorientated towards Dalry Road, pursued by four members of the gang, who then attacked him again.

When he was finally found by friends Nair was covered in blood and “frantic”.

One of his attackers even continued to be racially abusive about the students to police, saying: “Paki bastards, Scotland and the whole of the UK are overrun by them and also there’s blood, it’s probably from that Paki bastard.”

The three accused were remanded in custody for background reports ahead of sentencing.