THUGS TOLD a shopkeeper “you smell like curry” before grabbing him by the throat  and beating him with a walking stick.

The men also told Imran Asghar “we will rape your mother” before stealing products from The Tool Box, his hardware shop in Wanstead High Street.

The 35-year-old, of Chesterford Road, Manor Park, said “feels sorry” for the four attackers who put him through the awful ordeal at around 5pm on Monday, September 19.

Mr Asghar recalls them making a lot of noise before leaving after a few minutes. When outside, they laughed and put items in a bag.

“They were too intimidating for me to get involved,” Mr Asghar said.

The men then walked towards Hermon Hill. At this stage, Mr Asghar summoned the courage to go out and see where they were going.

“I don’t know if it was curiosity but I went to see if they were gone,” he said.

The four men saw him and walked back.

Mr Asghar said: “I was quite strong when they came back but I don’t think it lasted 10 seconds. My legs were shaking and I don’t know how I managed to stay on my feet.

“I was thinking lock the door but my keys were in my bag. I thought I don’t want to come back in and get killed by my own tools.”

The shopkeeper gripped the door from both sides, refusing entry.

One thug who looked in his 50s grabbed the victim by the throat and said: “You don’t know what we could do to you right now.”

Another hit Mr Asghar with a walking stick, while another subjected the victim to racist abuse.

One of the thugs said “go back to your own country”, to which Mr Asghar replied “I am from this country.”

“In 34 years of my life I never encountered racist behaviour. I only experienced it when I came to Wanstead,” he added.

Mr Asghar saw the final suspect grip what looked like the handle of a knife. He said to the victim: “I am going to prison tomorrow so it doesn’t matter so it doesn’t matter if I commit another crime.”

Mr Asghar “was taken aback by the knife” but felt his options were limited.

“As soon as they left I sat down on the floor and called the police. I tried to track where they were going afterwards,” he said.

“It really was a terrifying experience. They want to intimidate people because they get a thrill out of scaring them. It was completely unprovoked.

“I feel angry and I feel sorry for them that they have such sad lives. If that’s what they do then they have sad lives,” he added.

The shopkeeper has felt the after-effects of the traumatic experience.

He said: “I have actually jumped up a few times as I have seen people walk in or past the shop this morning. I guess that’s because of what’s happened.

“I resisted the urge to panic and tried to stay as calm as I could. Physically I was gone because I was mentally drained. At one point I did feel this is the day.”

However, he enjoyed plenty of support from residents on social media.

“I have had so much support from people on Wanstead Community Hub. It restores faith in humanity. For every bad person there are many more good people,” he said.

Although his faith in other people’s good will was shaken at the time of the incident because nobody helped, the support he received this morning compensated.

The victim revealed that his nephew left the shop shortly before the incident, and speculated on what could have happened had he stayed.

He said: “My nephew, who is 19, went out five minutes before it happened. I am glad he wasn’t here because he would have gone for it. At that age you don’t think. It could have escalated a lot more.”

The Tool Box has operated in Wanstead High Street for two years.

The Guardian has approached The Met for comment.