A FATHER-OF-SIX who converted to Christianity from Islam says hooded thugs who broke his kneecap and hand in a savage attack in a Bradford street targeted him because of his faith.

Nissar Hussain needed surgery yesterday after the unprovoked assault outside his home in St Paul's Road, Manningham.

The 49-year-old was about to get into his car to safely park it outside Lawcroft House Police Station when he was attacked by two hooded men who got out of a car which pulled up on the other side of the road.

One beat him with a pickaxe handle, while the other used punches and kicks.

Caught on Mr Hussain's home CCTV, the attack lasts 13 seconds and he is struck 13 times with the pickaxe handle Speaking from his hospital bed, Mr Hussain said: "I left the house to move my car when a vehicle pulled up and these thugs got out.

"I couldn't see their faces. It happened so quickly that I couldn't run. one immediately hit me with a pick axe.

"The full force was on my head, I put up my arm instinctively to protect my head and that's how my hand got broke. From there I tried to back pedal and my heel caught the kerb. I fell and from that point I was a lame target. They laced into me."

Police have confirmed the attack was being treated as a religious hate crime but Mr Hussain said it has taken this attack for the force to recognise the hell his family has been living.

Mr Hussain said he and his family have endured a life of harassment, intimidation and fear at the hands since 2008 when they appeared in a Channel 4 V documentary about the mistreatment of Muslim converts.

He accused police of failing to help him and his family who, he says, are virtual prisoners in their own home after being previously attacked in the street and having their car repeatedly damaged, costing thousands of pounds in repairs.

Mr Hussain, who gave up his nursing career because of the impact the situation was having on his health, said police had been called out on a number of occasions over the years to deal with the trouble.

"Our lives have been sabotaged because of our faith yet the police have never labelled it as a religious hate crime," he said.

"It has come to this and the police have failed us. I have no confidence in them."

The family moved in to St Paul's Road after experiencing problems in another part of Bradford where they claimed they were being ethnically cleansed and driven out by some hardline Muslim residents.

Mr Hussain said the family was at first welcomed into the street but the TV documentary put an end to that when word got out they had converted from Islam to Christianity.

"This persecution has been allowed to go on by the police," he said.

"We are under the cosh and classed as blasphemers. The Muslim community are largely decent people but because of the taboo of converting to Christianity we are classed by them as scum and second-class citizens.

"Most of the Muslim community here have turned a blind eye to what we are going through, there are some who have condoned it but there are also those who are directly committing hate crimes against us.

"Their objective is to drive us out again. We can't go on like this. The plan is to move but we can't do it overnight."

The attack happened shortly after 5pm on Tuesday as Mr Hussain walked to his car.

Since it was last vandalised in April he has started parking it overnight at the nearby police station.

His attackers were both wearing hooded tops and tracksuit bottoms and only stopped attacking him when Polish neighbours heard the commotion and chased them off.

Detective Inspector Andy Howard, of Bradford District CID, said initial investigations suggested is was a targeted attack and it is being treated as a religious hate crime.

Some residents in St Paul's Road told of their shock at what had happened to Mr Hussain.

One Muslim woman, who asked not to be named, said there was a lot of healthy community interaction in St Paul's Road.

"Everyone just mixes in and I've been here for years and have never heard of anything like this before," she said.

Another resident said he had heard about the incident from his son.

"We do not know this man, but it is a terrible thing to have happened to anyone," he said.

Witnesses to the attack or anyone with information should contact police on 101 and quote reference number 13150 471087.