A BRADFORD man has told how he was badly beaten in a carjacking attempt in the city which has left him requiring surgery and unable to sleep or eat properly.

Imran Tariq, 34, sustained a broken eye socket, cheekbone and nose, as well as several ribs, after four men attempted to drag him from his wife’s 2016 Audi Q3 car on Tuesday afternoon, near his home in Little Germany.

“My wife was at the hospital because of recurring back problems. I was going to take some clothes to her and had dropped the children off at their grandparents,” he said.

“As I was driving along Priestley Street towards Bolton Road, a white Mercedes pulled out. I stopped and flashed to let it go. As I looked down to adjust the radio someone opened my door. There was a fault on the car so the doors were not locking automatically when you set off. We’d been meaning to take the car back and get it sorted.

“This huge man started punching me. He was just like an animal, like a beast. My instinct was ‘this is my wife’s car, you can’t have it’.

“There were four in the car but I only remember the driver and front passenger attacking me. I kept hold of the steering wheel and was screaming for help. The punches seemed to go on for ages.

They got my legs out of the car but I kept hold of the steering wheel.

“Suddenly they left and I went to the hospital. I have to have a plate in my face next week when the swelling has gone down. Until then I can hardly breathe. I can’t swallow food and can’t sleep very well. When I close my eyes I see them. It has had a terrible effect on my family but I know I am lucky to be alive.

“My wife and I have discussed whether or not to keep the car. Is it worth it? Would it happen again, this time with my wife driving with the children in?

“I want to move away from Bradford and take my family to Greater Manchester, where I am from, but can’t while my eldest son is doing so well in primary school.

“Maybe we’ll think about it in a year.

“I want justice now. Those who did this can run but they can’t hide. I can see their faces and could pick them out in a line-up so I hope the police get them. My message to them is how would they react if this happened to your family?

“I face surgery the day before my birthday.”

The crime is the latest of several carjacking incidents in the district, which police say are not linked.

Two Bradford men were arrested in connection with an attempted carjacking in Halifax on Thursday, while a woman had her VW Polo stolen in Wibsey on Saturday and a black VW Golf was stolen in Idle on Tuesday.