A RESPECTED Bangladeshi priest has been attacked outside a Sunderland mosque.

The 71-year-old priest, Maulaulana Hussain Ahmed, and community leader Syed Khaled Miah, 44, were beaten up outside the Chester Road mosque by four teenage thugs.

The pair were visiting the mosque for evening prayer. A 39-year-old man, also Bangladeshi, came to their aid, but was also attacked. All suffered severe bruising to the head, face, arms and legs, and were taken to hospital for treatment.

Police arrested four men in their late teens in dawn raids yesterday in connection with the incident late last month. The four were helping police with their inquiries at a city centre police station last night.