Family feud victim left living in fear

A FEUD between two families led to a young Oldham man being attacked as he sat in a barber’s shop.

Shuaib Ahmed was violently assaulted by three men after insults were hurled at him as he waited for a haircut, a court was told.

He was punched to the head and face by one of the men, 22-year-old Mohammed Farooq, before being jostled outside where he was assaulted again in a ginnel.

Alaric Bassano, prosecuting at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court, said the terrified man who is in his early twenties, had his arms pinned to his sides by another of the trio, 21-year-old Hadir Ali during part of the assault, then was grappled to the ground.

He later had to be taken to hospital for treatment to his injuries which included cuts and bruising to his face and eyes, and left him with a visible scar.

The court was told that Mr Ahmed, who did nothing to provoke the attack at the barber’s in Lee Street, Oldham, on January 26 last year, had been left frightened of further assault by his attackers.

He deliberately avoided certain areas of the town where he felt particularly vulnerable, and felt self-conscious about having to wear an eye patch for some time after the attack.

Both Farooq, of Windsor Road, Oldham, and Ali, of Olivia Terrace, Coppice, were given nine-month jail sentences suspended for 18 months. In addition the pair were given intensive 12-month community orders including 150 hours unpaid work.

Both men were also told they will be subject to a nightly curfew by electronic tagging for three months, and each was ordered to pay £300 compensation to Mr Ahmed.

Sentencing them, Mr Recorder Philip Curran told them: “This was a sustained attack by a number of men on a vulnerable lone man, which resulted in some nasty injuries.”

The court had been told that initially both Farooq and Ali denied being responsible, and only pleaded guilty to a charge of causing actual bodily harm on the day of their trial in September.

The third man has not yet been brought to justice.

The court was told that Farooq who played a leading role in the attack now accepted what he had done, and wished to apologise for the distress he had caused to Mr Ahmed and his family.

Farooq’s own family were said to have made it clear that his behaviour had been completely unacceptable.