By Tony O’Riley-
A judge has described a group of teenagers as acting like “a pack of animals” when they chased and attacked a 17-year-old youth in a Bradford alleyway.
One of the trio even took out his mobile phone to film the broad daylight attack.
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Bradford Crown Crown heard that the catalyst for the attack was a previous incident when one of the teenagers had been the victim and it was believed that the youth they targeted had been involved.
Prosecutor Jonathan Sharp said the victim, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had been walking along Toller Lane when a car drove by with four males inside and loud music blaring out.
The three teenagers jumped out of the car and chased after the teenager, 17-year-old Rohaib Arshad leading the way armed with what looked like a hammer.
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Ehsan Hussain, then 16, now 17, and Zain Jamshed, then 17 now 18, also joined in the chase and when the teenager was cornered Arshad hit him on the right side of his head with the hammer.
Mr Sharp said the others joined in the attack which included kicks and stamps as the teenager lay defenseless on the ground and Jamshed took out his phone to film the beating.
The attackers eventually fled the scene and their victim was helped by residents and taken to hospital. Mr Sharp said the teenager had trouble walking and feared he had suffered a collapsed lung, but in hospital it was found that he had a fracture to his right upper leg, he had dislocated his right knee and a bone in his right foot had been fractured.
In a victim impact statement ,the complainant said he had suffered nightmares after the attack in April and at the time he had feared for his life.
All three teenagers pleaded guilty to a joint offence of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and they were each sentenced to 30 months detention in a young offenders institution.
Judge Mansell agreed to lift reporting restrictions to name the two under-18s due to a genuine public interest in people knowing what goes on in the city.
“It was a revenge attack,” said the judge.“It was sustained and persistent and it did involve the use of a very dangerous weapon in the form of a hammer.”
He said the group had hunted down their victim like “a pack of animals” and when he was cornered they subjected him to a savage beating.
The court heard that Jamshed, and Hussain, both of Kensington Street, Bradford, had no previous convictions and Arshad, of Wilmer Drive, Bradford, had previous convictions for house burglary.
No Justification
Mitigating for Jamnshed, Barrister Elyas Patel, agreed there could never be any justification for such “group thuggery” on the streets, but he said the previous incident may help to explain why an otherwise decent 17-year-old with no convictions became embroiled in an offence as serious as this.
“The true Zain Jamshed is in my submission very far from a violent street thug,” said Mr Patel.
“He’s penned a sincere letter himself expressing his heartfelt and genuine remorse.”
Balbir Singh, for Arshad, something was said in the car and a chase developed and as often happens when people are together they end up “egging each other on”.
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