A SHOPKEEPER targeted by yobs with a homemade explosive says he is being driven out of town.

Yusef Boztepe, 43, who owns Walderslade Mini Market, has endured three years of attacks and abuse including the detonation of an air bed filled up with gas in Yarrow Road, Weedswood, last July.

He stood up against his attackers long enough to see one of them jailed for five years for the dangerous stunt.

But Mr Boztepe, who is Kurdish, and wife Diana, 47, from Belgium, are planning to move because they no longer feel safe.

He said: "I'm selling the shop. We don't feel comfortable staying here. It will be really, really hard for me to get back my normal life. It's affected me a lot.

"I lost my health. I've been in hospital for depression and so has my wife. I'm still going there. It was really, really bad.

"When the explosion happened there were about 30 of them out the front.

"They sent one boy to tell me they would do the same to my shop."

Mark Marchant, 28, of nearby Pimpernel Way, had filled an air bed with gas before setting light to it on a fence, resulting in the explosion police said could have seriously harmed someone.

Marchant was found guilty of causing an explosion likely to endanger life at Maidstone Crown Court last Thursday and was sentenced to five years in jail.

Before the explosion, Mr and Mrs Boztepe were the targets of a three-year hate campaign by a gang who slashed tyres, threw eggs at them, threw bricks through their windows, stole from the store and threatened violence.

Speaking after the sentencing, Medway Police's Det Insp Ann Lisseman said it was fortunate the consequences had not been more severe.

ANOTHER man, Terry Goodearl, 41, Town Road Cliffe Woods, is due to stand trial for allegedly intimidating Mr Boztepe. He is charged with intimidating a witness and is currently on bail. Goodearl has previously been prosecuted for public order offences in Weedswood. He was fined £150, ordered to pay £100 compensation and £515 costs.