Knife crime: why Hamouda Bessaad will always haunt me
Telegraph- His full name, which not many people realised, was Hamouda Bessaad. When I heard it on the BBC news last month, I didn't make the connection to the man I knew.
'A gentle guy': Hamouda Bessaad
A television bulletin was the last place I - or anyone else who met him - would have expected to hear his name. To me he was simply Hambi, a waiter at Locale, my local Italian restaurant in East Dulwich.
"I am haunting you, sir," he told me the first time I lunched there. "Like a ghost, sir."
He saw my look of puzzlement. I have trouble with faces.
"It's me, Hambi, sir," he jogged my memory. "I serve you at our restaurant in Blackheath, sir. Many times. Now I am here. It is promotion for me. One day I will be manager, I think. No - one day I will be manager, I hope. You see, I am learning to speak like a real Englishman… never to be boasting."
His eyes were playful, schoolboy's eyes, although there was something much older, and maybe far wiser, behind them.
A hard-working Tunisian immigrant, determined to get ahead, I'd known him for a couple of years - not well, but well enough to know a little about his interest in sport, especially football. He was a Chelsea supporter. "You do not get more English than that, sir," he smiled.
He loved telling silly, childish jokes: "What is the highest building in New York City? The Public Library. It has the most stories."
He'd been married for five years, to an English girl called Lorna: "Like Lorna Doone," he once told me, proudly explaining that she was the heroine of an English novel he'd been reading. "The story happens in Exmoor, that's in Devon.
I will go there one day. It sounds like an interesting place to visit." He added that there were many interesting places he wanted to visit in England. "I have made a list," he said, promising to show it to me the next time I came in.
He was a tall, good-looking man who, although not naturally gregarious, was instinctively friendly and trusting. "I never heard him grumble or complain. He believed in helping those who needed help. He had such a sense of decency, you wouldn't believe," said a friend.
He faced the problem of assimilating in a new country at an age when most young men are settling down, buying their first homes, starting families. But he was proud of the roots he was putting down in England, the friends he was making, and his steady progress in the restaurant business.
"It is hard work, but I love it," he said. His enjoyment of his steadily growing status, the trust his bosses had in him, was palpable.
He was proud, too, of the fact that he was able to send regular money back to his parents in Tunisia. "His mum and dad meant the world to him," Lorna told me. "He was a wonderful husband and a good son."
But the other evening, when I phoned to book a table for dinner at Locale, I was told that Hambi was dead. He was the man whose full name meant nothing to me when I heard it on the 10 O'Clock News: "Hamouda Bessaad, 34, was found by police officers last night with stab wounds to his upper body in London's Old Kent Road. Mr Bessaad, originally from Tunisia, was pronounced dead at the scene."
According to the police, it was a case of mistaken identity, or perhaps he was the victim of a random knife attack.
A man in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were appealing for witnesses. His death, on June 30, did not stay in the headlines, or lead to public protests, as with the recent stabbings of others - French students Laurent Bonomo and Gabriel Ferez, or 16-year-old schoolboy Ben Kinsella, the brother of the former EastEnders actress Brooke Kinsella.
"Hambi's killing was too commonplace to cause a fuss, I suppose," said Lorna. "Just another stabbing in a London street, what's that? He was a quiet man, a private man, a fantastic person. There are no vigils for him. No one's demonstrating in the street, no one's protesting at his senseless death.
"Hambi wouldn't have wanted a lot of attention, but I'd like people to know what a special man he was, that's all."
The most poignant thing is that Hambi would still be alive today if he had not worked so hard: on the night he died, his manager, Cherif Nehlil, sent him home early.
"We were not too busy," he told me, "and he looked tired. He was house-sitting a friend's flat in Southwark. He said he would drop by an internet café on the Old Kent Road to call his parents in Tunisia, and then have an early night."
A waiter who had worked with Hambi for nearly three years told me: "We are all going to miss him terribly, and in a flitting, footloose business like ours, that is about the highest tribute a man can be paid. He only saw the good in people. Hambi was a gentle guy, the sort of bloke who would always walk away from trouble. He was just a peaceful man."
It is always shocking when you hear of yet another random death of a young person on our streets. But only when you discover that you knew the victim, even as casually as I knew Hambi, that the wastefulness and sheer futility of the death strike home.
Too old to be remembered among the toll of those stabbed to death in their teens, but yet not old enough for us to judge what sort of man he might have become, Hambi died in the arms of a nearby shopkeeper, also a Muslim.
"They said their prayer for the rite of passage together," said Lorna, who is a Christian. "Hambi was not a practising Muslim, but he would have taken comfort in that final prayer." She added, quietly: "I do."
When I told her that Hambi had told me he was haunting me, she smiled in understanding sadness. "He could really do that," she said. He was a man who could leave his mark on you, on a room, just by having been there.
"He had these little rituals, at home, working in the restaurant - the way he would place your plate on the table, or refill your glass, or move a chair out for you to sit down. They were very special Hambi habits. When he was alive, you hardly noticed them.
Now he's gone, I realise that they were part of him, like the childhood prayer he still said before eating, the little habits that made up his life. You can imagine missing somebody's smile, or the way a person laughed, their familiar jokes, but nothing can prepare you for missing the way a person hung his jacket on the back of his chair, or how he squeezed the toothpaste.
"One day you hope you will forget the shock of the moment the policemen knocked on your door to tell you that your husband has died, knifed to death in the street, and one day, please God, maybe you will. But the pain will never go away. I don't want any other family to go through such grief caused by a lack of respect for another human life."
When I once asked Hambi about his ambitions, he replied: "I am just waiting to see what gifts the future will bring me." Normally, I might have forgotten his face as easily as I had the first time I walked into his restaurant in East Dulwich.
Posté le: Mar Juil 14, 2009 8:28 pm Sujet du message:
Abdinasir Hassan, who stabbed waiter Hamouda Bessaad to death in the Old Kent Road in June last year, had mistaken his victim. He has today been convicted of murder at the Old Bailey.
Citation:
Somalian Abdinasir Hassan, 21, unemployed and of no fixed address, will be sentenced on 4 September.
On 30 June last year 34-year-old Hamouda Bessaad, a Tunisian national, went to the Old Kent Road after finishing work to meet a friend.
He was walking near the post office close to Madron Street at about 10.25pm when Hassan ran up behind him and stabbed him in the back with a knife.
Mr Bessaad walked some distance to seek help at a local cafe but died at the scene.
The court heard that earlier in the evening Hassan had a violent altercation with a number of Algerian men in an internet cafe in the Old Kent Road. He had been made to leave the cafe.
Hassan was also in the Old Kent Road later that night and as he saw Mr Bessaad walk by, mistook him for the Algerian man at the cafe who had made him leave. He ran up to him, stabbing him in the upper body before running on.
"Mr Bessaad was a hardworking man who had made his home in London but sent home money when ever he could to his family in Tunisia," said DI Sarah Rees.
"He worked as a waiter in Blackheath and all his colleagues and customers there were shocked by the murder of a man who they thought would have no enemies.
"Members of his family in the UK and in Tunisia have suffered intolerable grief since his life was taken.
"I wish to express my thanks to the people who came forward and gave evidence at the trial of Abdinasir Hassan, and pay tribute to the fortitude of Hamouda's family who have patiently waited for this day."
Posté le: Sam Nov 28, 2009 11:01 am Sujet du message:
San Francisco - A tunisian stabbed to death at pizzeria
The 38-year-old San Francisco man's immigration lawyers had taken his cause to the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, where in 2007 he won the right to stay while immigration courts considered his request.
At about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, Bokri was at his cook's job at Bellissimo Pizza on Sutter Street when a woman came in. She behaved strangely and appeared drunk, witnesses later told police. She asked another worker for water, and he gave it to her.
When Bokri went outside a few minutes later for a smoke break, the woman - identified by police as 25-year-old Maryam Achekzai - walked up to him and started shouting at him. The victim's friends say she was harassing Bokri about the length of his beard, but police have not been able to confirm that.
There is no indication the two knew each other, police say. When Bokri told her to leave, Achekzai pulled a folding knife and stabbed him, witnesses told investigators.
The assailant then screamed, "Help!" dropped the knife and hailed a passing motorist, police said. Bokri was rushed to San Francisco General Hospital, where he died a short time later.
Achekzai was arrested thanks to a cabdriver who was in the pizzeria, heard the commotion and watched as she got into the car. He followed the car and called police. Officers soon arrested her, her hands and clothes bloody. They also found the knife, investigators say.
On Wednesday, she was charged with murdering Bokri, with an enhancement for allegedly using a knife. She is being held without bail, and faces a maximum sentence of 27 years to life if convicted.
"There is no apparent motive," said police homicide Inspector Michael Gaynor. "We haven't tracked down anything concrete."
Posté le: Sam Jan 02, 2010 8:44 pm Sujet du message: Jamel Kamoun
Deces de Jamel Abdelhamid KAMOUN
(docteur, prof. universitaire)
(survenu le dimanche 20 décembre 2009 suite à un accident de la circulation à Los Angeles, USA)
Kammoun, a 49-year-old Rancho Palos Verdes resident, joined the faculty at the Catholic liberal arts college in August 2001 and taught mathematics. Also an instructor at El Camino College, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina.
Dr. Michael Brophy, Marymount’s president, told the News that he visited with Kammoun’s family on Sunday. Kammoun is survived by his wife and three young daughters.
“The college and their family is in a state of deep loss and grief,” he said. “Professor Kammoun was a gentle, quiet, highly intelligent and warm professor. He was universally beloved on campus by students, faculty and staff for his sincerity and for his caring.”
According to a statement posted on the college’s Web site, “Dr. Kammoun is remembered by a faculty colleague as a professor who changed the lives of many students, instilling in students a love of math and science through his dedicated scholarship and exemplary teaching.”
Marymount plans to hold a public memorial service paying tribute to Kammoun during the spring term.
Lomita Sheriff’s Station officials continue to investigate the accident that claimed Kammoun’s life.
On Dec. 20, a 17-year-old RPV boy was driving an Infiniti G35 sports car south on Hawthorne Boulevard, passing Alta Vista Drive, at 7 a.m., according to Deputy Chris Knox of the Lomita Station. The motorist was going into a left curve at a high rate of speed (possibly 80 mph or more), according to Knox.
The vehicle ran off the road, striking the curb, a block wall and Kammoun, as he walked along the sidewalk.
Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedics treated Kammoun at the scene and he was transported via ambulance to County Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. He died an hour later, Knox said.
The southbound lanes of Hawthorne Boulevard were closed until 3 p.m. while Sheriff’s deputies investigated, took photos and measurements, cleaned the site and re-routed traffic, Knox said.
The driver, who may face a vehicular manslaughter charge, and two passengers sustained minor to moderate injuries. According to Knox, drugs and alcohol were not deemed factors in the fatal accident.
“The driver was not arrested because the victim died later (not at the scene or time of the crash) and the investigation has not been completed,” Knox told the News.
Asked if the young motorist’s license was suspended, Knox said the Lomita Station doesn’t have the authority to do so, but the Department of Motor Vehicles or court system does.
“However, he was issued a DMV priority re-examination notice,” he said. “This notice orders him to be re-tested behind the wheel at [the] DMV within five days or the driver’s license will be suspended.”
If convicted of vehicular manslaughter, the driver’s license automatically will be suspended for one year, Knox said. The case will be presented to the district attorney at Inglewood Juvenile Court.
Calls to Lomita Station officials seeking additional information about the incident were not returned as of press time.
Posté le: Dim Jan 03, 2010 10:46 pm Sujet du message:
rabbi yarhamhom!
ce qui est curieux a savoir,c'est que des gens comme le professeur kamoun ne sont pas considérés comme des expats ou des étrangers,ils sont américains pour l'amérique.
je fais cette remarque juste pour signaler la difference avec la france qui met toujours en avant les origines,ou la confession des français d'adoption,comme pour dire que ce ne sont pas de vrais français,ou bien des francçais de deuxième classe.
ici on te juge sur ce que tu fais et non par rapport à d'où tu viens. _________________ unique detentrice du droit de véto a la loud generation.
Posté le: Dim Jan 03, 2010 11:08 pm Sujet du message:
c'est vrai, et tu as vu le nombre de tunisiens qu'il y a à boston?presque plus qu'en tunisie mais ils sont tous considérés comme americains,britaniques,canadiens,français...etc.. et c'est dommage pour la tunisie de ne pas profiter de ces personnes qui tous excellent dans leurs domaines sans parler des étudiants.
mais on ne peut pas nier qu'il existe ici une éspèce de racisme anti-français,j'ai beau crié que j'etais tunisienne,on me parle toujours de la france,de sarko,de sa carla et de tous les clichés collés à la france! et avec jouda ils sont tous aux petits soins comme si elle venait d'une autre planète qui s'appele tunisie et elle en profite bien la halloufa _________________
Posté le: Dim Jan 17, 2010 11:54 am Sujet du message:
Séisme en Haïti - : L'ONU confirme le décès de Hedi Annabi chef de la mission de l'ONU
Le Secrétaire général des Nations Unies, Ban Ki-moon, a confirmé samedi "avec la plus profonde tristesse" les décès de son Représentant spécial pour Haïti, Hédi Annabi, de l''adjoint de celui-ci, Luiz Carlos da Costa, et du commissaire de police par intérim, Doug Coates, à la suite du séisme de magnitude 7,0 qui a frappé mardi la capitale haïtienne Port-au-Prince.
"Dans tous les sens du terme, ils ont donné leur vie pour la paix", a dit M. Ban dans une déclaration. "Nous sommes de tout coeur avec eux, avec les familles et les amis de Hédi, Luiz et Doug et avec les nombreux autres héros de l''ONU qui ont donné leur vie pour Haïti", a-t-il ajouté. "Leur souhait le plus cher, j''en suis sûr, serait que nous poursuivions le noble travail qu''eux et leurs collègues ont mené si bien".
Selon le Secrétaire général, Hédi Annabi, de nationalité tunisienne, "était un vrai citoyen du monde. Les Nations Unies étaient sa vie et il faisait partie de ses fils les plus dévoués et les plus engagés". "Ceux qui l''ont connu se souvienne de son sens de l''humour, de son intégrité et de son éthique de travail sans parallèle. Il était le premier et le dernier chaque jour pendant toute sa carrière", a-t-il ajouté.
"Il était fier de la Mission de l''ONU en Haïti, fier de sa capacité à apporter la stabilité et l''espoir au peuple d''Haïti, fier de ses employés de l''ONU", a dit encore M. Ban.
Inscrit le: 17 Jan 2007 Messages: 277 Localisation: Paris
Posté le: Dim Jan 17, 2010 12:19 pm Sujet du message:
sly a écrit:
Séisme en Haïti - : L'ONU confirme le décès de Hedi Annabi chef de la mission de l'ONU
Le Secrétaire général des Nations Unies, Ban Ki-moon, a confirmé samedi "avec la plus profonde tristesse" les décès de son Représentant spécial pour Haïti, Hédi Annabi, de l''adjoint de celui-ci, Luiz Carlos da Costa, et du commissaire de police par intérim, Doug Coates, à la suite du séisme de magnitude 7,0 qui a frappé mardi la capitale haïtienne Port-au-Prince.
"Dans tous les sens du terme, ils ont donné leur vie pour la paix", a dit M. Ban dans une déclaration. "Nous sommes de tout coeur avec eux, avec les familles et les amis de Hédi, Luiz et Doug et avec les nombreux autres héros de l''ONU qui ont donné leur vie pour Haïti", a-t-il ajouté. "Leur souhait le plus cher, j''en suis sûr, serait que nous poursuivions le noble travail qu''eux et leurs collègues ont mené si bien".
Selon le Secrétaire général, Hédi Annabi, de nationalité tunisienne, "était un vrai citoyen du monde. Les Nations Unies étaient sa vie et il faisait partie de ses fils les plus dévoués et les plus engagés". "Ceux qui l''ont connu se souvienne de son sens de l''humour, de son intégrité et de son éthique de travail sans parallèle. Il était le premier et le dernier chaque jour pendant toute sa carrière", a-t-il ajouté.
"Il était fier de la Mission de l''ONU en Haïti, fier de sa capacité à apporter la stabilité et l''espoir au peuple d''Haïti, fier de ses employés de l''ONU", a dit encore M. Ban.
Allah yare7mou !!! un grand monsieur dont on a découvert l'existence qu'après sa mort, c'est bien dommage !!! _________________ Il n'y a de joie meilleure que la joie du coeur !!!
Posté le: Sam Mai 08, 2010 12:25 pm Sujet du message: Duicide de Skander
Skander Vogt avait mis le feu à son matelas, mais les gardiens ne sont intervenus qu'au bout d'une heure et demie. Des enregistrements sonores révèlant leur total mépris à l'égard du prisonnier ont été rendus publics.
«Il peut crever, de toute façon ça fait cinquante minutes qu'il respire la fumée», raconte au téléphone un gardien du pénitencier de Bochuz, dans le canton de Vaud, en Suisse romande. Son interlocuteur, un policier, répond, manifestement sourire aux lèvres : «Ça lui fait du bien». Puis prononce, très distinctement, le mot de «c*****».
Le détenu dont il est question s'appelle Skander Vogt. Et, dans la nuit du 10 au 11 mars dernier, il est décédé dans l'indifférence générale. Pire encore, sous les rires de ses surveillants. Le jeune homme, âgé de 30 ans, avait décidé de mettre le feu à son matelas pour protester contre le fait qu'on lui ait confisqué sa radio. Mais les trois gardiens présents ce soir-là ne lui sont pas venus en aide. Et le jeune homme est mort seul, asphyxié dans sa cellule.
Skander Vogt était un détenu considéré comme dangereux. Le jeune homme avait été arrêté en 1999 à vingt mois de prison pour une multitude de petits délits : vols, injures, menaces et détention de stupéfiants. Mais la Suisse, utilisant l'article 43 du Code pénal, ne l'a pas libéré depuis, considérant qu'il pouvait «compromettre gravement la sécurité publique». Le jeune homme ne pouvait d'ailleurs pas quitter sa cellule sans être attaché. Il y a deux ans, il s'était fait remarquer en réussissant à monter sur le toit de la prison. Alors souffrant d'une atroce rage de dent, il demandait à voir un dentiste, ce que l'administration lui avait refusé jusqu'ici.
Il agonise durant deux heures
Le 10 mars dernier, le détenu n'a, une fois de plus, pas souhaité se laisser faire. Furieux qu'on lui ait confisqué sa radio, il hurle dans sa cellule : «Ça va cramer ce soir !». Vers les 1h du matin, il joint le geste à la parole. Mais, surprise, personne n'intervient. Un détenu du centre de détention raconte au site d'information bakchich qu'il a entendu Skander Vogt crier : «J'ai foutu le feu à ma cellule, j'ai interphoné et ils refusent de venir». Un autre prisonnier témoigne : «La nuit où Skander Vogt est décédé, je l'avais entendu crier par la fenêtre qu'il y avait le feu dans sa cellule. Je l'ai aussi entendu dire : «Vous ne me sortez de la cellule ?».
Ce ne sont que quarante minutes plus tard que les gardiens décident de prévenir les secours. S'ensuivent alors plusieurs conversations téléphoniques entre les urgences médicales et les services de police. Des échanges consternants que la radio RTL est parvenue à se procurer. Skander Vogt, «c'est celui qui était sur le toit ?» entend-on notamment. «Oui, non de dieu de merde», lui répond une voix. «Il peut crever». «Ca lui fait du bien», renchérit la voix. Le détenu se fait également traiter de «c*****», «crapule», «couillon» ou encore de «crevure» à plusieurs reprises. Le tout sur un ton presque hilare. Au même moment, Skander Vogt agonise dans sa cellule.
Entre-temps, le Smur (service mobile d'urgence et de réanimation), alerté à 2h11 seulement, tente d'intervenir. Mais les gardiens, sous prétexte qu'ils ne sont que trois pour surveiller toute la prison, refusent d'ouvrir la cellule de Skander Vogt. «Je me souviens que le détenu était couché dans sa cellule, sur le dos, la tête côté fenêtre, raconte un docteur présent ce soir-là à Bakchich. J'ai essayé de l'appeler mais il n'y avait aucune réponse. Je l'entendais respirer très fort avec des râles. Je ne pouvais pas m'approcher de lui pour l'examiner car la porte en grille était fermée».
Il faut attendre 2h50 - l'arrivée du Dard (police spéciale chargée des détenus dangereux) - pour que la porte soit enfin ouverte. Soit 1h50 après que le détenu a mis le feu à son matelas. Beaucoup trop tard pour que le solide gaillard de 100 kilos ne puisse en réchapper. A 3h du matin, son décès est prononcé.
«Ils ont organisé sa mort»
Dans un premier temps, le directeur de la prison annonce à la soeur du détenu, seule famille qui lui reste, que son petit frère s'est suicidé. Mais rapidement, plusieurs témoignages de détenus viennent contredire cette version. Les avocats de Skander Vogt décident alors de porter plainte pour «homicide par négligence». «Il s'agit d'un être humain. Il a 30 ans. On ne laisse pas les gens mourir comme ça. Pour moi c'est un meurtre», explique la soeur de Skander Vogt à RTL. «Ils ont organisé sa mort, renchérit l'un de ses avocats. C'est à la fois du mépris de l'être humain et du sadisme».
Les services pénitentiaires ne se prononceront pas tant que l'enquête n'est pas bouclée. Dimanche, dans l'hebdomadaire suisse Le Matin, le commandant de la police cantonale vaudoise ne reconnait qu'à moitié les faits. Les enregistrements sonores «ne sont évidemment pas à notre gloire. Les propos tenus sont regrettables et inadmissibles, explique-t-il. Toutefois, ils «n'ont pas eu d'influence sur la rapidité de la prise en charge de la police », poursuit-il, rejetant ainsi indirectement la responsabilité sur l'administration du pénitencier de Bochuz.
Source: Le Figaro
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!!! un grand monsieur dont on a découvert l'existence qu'après sa mort, c'est bien dommage 
!!!