The victim of a Co Derry racist attack says he believed he his movements were monitored before being assaulted.
Mark Piff was beaten after three men forced their way into his flat on Main Street, Dungiven, late on Thursday.
Originally from England, he was struck around the head, body and legs with a hammer and other weapons as he lay in bed by the attack gang who had their faces covered with scarves.
He was later treated in hospital for his injuries.
The attack comes after a series of Black Lives Matter protests across the north following the killing of African American George Floyd in Minneapolis last month, after a white police officer held a knee on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Mr Piff said he has been racially abused in the past in England.
“Other places I have gone, even back over in England, I've had a bit of racism and stuff.
“But getting beat up by three lads with an hammer for no reason at all, I've done nothing wrong, I work hard and I go home.”
Asked of he believed he was attacked because of the colour of his skin he said: “I think so, yeah. I do, because I don't cause no trouble with anybody in Dungiven or anything."
He described those who carried out the attack as “scum”.
“If they do that to me what are they going to do to other people.
“Next time there could be a death or something like that.”
He believes his movements have been monitored prior to the attack.
“It just seemed to me that these people knew where I was going, it just seemed like they had watched... it's a good job my two year old grandson wasn't there because I don't know what I would have done.
“I would probably have had to jump out a window or something like that, I don't know,” he told the BBC.
PSNI Detective Inspector Peter McKenna said it was a “vicious attack on a defenceless man”.
“We are treating the incident at this time as a racially motivated hate crime,” he said.
“It was reported that shortly before midnight on Thursday, three men, armed with a hammer and other weapons, forced entry to an upstairs flat and attacked the male occupant as he lay in bed. The occupant was struck around the head, body and legs a number of times and required hospital treatment following the attack for his injuries. He remains in hospital this morning. The attackers were described as white males in their mid-20’s with local accents and all three had their faces covered with scarves."
Sinn Féin councillor Sean McGlinchey said people in the mainly nationalist town are disgusted by the attack.
“People will be very disappointed if the PSNI find this is racially motivated," he said.
He said Dungiven has welcomed people from a diverse range of backgrounds in the past.
“There are a lot of people who work in Dungiven for 15 or 20 years, Indian and Romanian, and there has never been anybody who has turned a word on them,” he said.
“I told family members that he is very welcome and it's not a racist attack.”
