A FATHER who said he suffered “seven years of persecution” has been forced to flee his home under armed guard amid fears for his safety.

Nissar Hussain was with his family when police arrived and moved him to a safe place.

Mr Hussain said the culmination of the “extreme persecution” had devastated his family and the dramatic arrival of armed police was a complete surprise.

“My family are distraught and extremely traumatised to be leaving,” said Mr Hussain.

“But when your life is at stake there is no other choice.”

CCTV footage of the attack last year on Nissar Hussain

Mr Hussain converted to Christianity 20 years ago, but says in recent years he has been subjected to harassment and violence by sections of the Islamic community.

“This extreme persecution by certain people in the Muslim community because we are converts has broken us as a family,” he said.

“We are fragmented and I do not know how we will recover from this. We haven’t functioned properly for years."

He said "serious questions" needed to be answered.

Last year, Mr Hussain was hospitalised after his kneecap was smashed and his hand broken during an attack outside his home in St Paul’s Road, Manningham.

Two hooded men, one armed with a pick-axe handle, assaulted him in a vicious attack caught on CCTV.

At the time, Mr Hussain said he and his family were being driven out of the city and he was making plans to leave. This week he had started packing up his belongings when the police arrived on Thursday.

He briefly returned home yesterday to collect more items, with police guarding, before leaving Bradford for good.

The 50-year-old, who was a nurse before leaving work due to post-traumatic stress disorder, said his six children, aged eight to 24, and wife would never see their friends again.

He had been expecting an attack for some months, but when the police arrived he was “none the wiser” that he was at such serious risk.

“The armed police arrived at about 3pm on Thursday,” he said.

“I had been loading a van up with our belongings for eight hours, having to stealthily check no-one could see what I was doing, before they arrived.

“It took me completely by surprise, but their [the police] professionalism was deeply reassuring, and they escorted my family and I to a safe haven outside Yorkshire.”

Last night, a West Yorkshire Police spokesman said hate crime would not be tolerated and officers had been working with the family.

"Our priority has always been to work effectively with our partners to minimise the risk to Mr Hussain and ensure that we maximise opportunities to put control measures in place to safeguard him, his family and consider any wider impact upon the communities across West Yorkshire," he added.

"We are disappointed that Mr Hussain and his family have decided to leave Bradford, particularly as police and partners have been working together for some time to try and resolve the situation to the benefit of all parties concerned.

"All the incidents reported by Mr Hussain have been recorded in line with National guidance and we continue to proactively pursue lines of enquiry to identify the perpetrators and are committed to ensuring that a thorough and effective investigation is undertaken to mitigate the threat posed in the first instance and where possible bring the perpetrators to justice.

"West Yorkshire Police are also progressing an investigation into further allegations and counter allegations which have arisen from local disturbances to establish what offences have occurred and to identify who is responsible.

"Police and partners would like to stress that there are a number of other people living in the Bradford district who have not experienced any issues based on their faith, conversion to another faith or choosing not to have a faith.

"West Yorkshire Police treat incidents of hate crime extremely seriously and will always put the needs of the victim at the heart of the investigation and strive to provide the desired outcome for the victim. Under no circumstances will hate crime be tolerated."

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