A KNIFE was plunged deep into the back of the victim of a vicious attack carried out by two men, who were caught thanks to CCTV at a bookies they had visited earlier that evening.
Ishmail Mohammed and Said Omar have been remanded in custody after a jury at Warwick Crown Court found them both guilty of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
They had both denied the charge, although Omar, 27, of Springfield Road, Hillfields, Coventry, had admitted a second less serious charge of unlawful wounding.
Following the jury’s verdict – and after hearing that Mohammed, 24, of Coronation Road, Hillfields, had a previous conviction for wounding with intent – Judge Barry Berlin said he wanted a report to assess the danger he poses in the future.
Adjourning the case for reports to be prepared on both men, who had previously been on bail, Judge Berlin remanded them in custody, telling them prison sentences were inevitable.
During the trial, prosecutor Graeme Simpson said the pair intended to cause their victim really serious harm.
He explained that in the early hours of September 20 last year the victim was in the Hillfields area, where he used to live, but remembers little of what happened to him.
He remembers being on the main street, known as the Village Square, and being approached by a man who asked what phone he had and whether he wanted to sell it.
“The man then grabbed his phone, and all hell broke out, and he next remembered being on the ground and seeing his hand bleeding badly,” said Mr Simpson.
As his attackers made off, the victim managed to get to his feet and staggered around before collapsing.
People who rushed to his aid realised he had been stabbed, and an ambulance was called.
He was rushed to hospital where it was found he had a 10-15cm wound to his back that had gone deep into his chest cavity and a deep laceration to his hand, almost severing his thumb, as well as other wounds to his face.
CCTV showed he had been attacked by four men, and that two of them had been in a local bookmaker’s earlier that evening.
A police appeal led to those two men being identified as Mohammed and Omar, who were arrested.
When he was questioned Omar made no comment, but a cigarette discarded by one of the attackers at the scene was found to have his DNA on it, while his shoes had traces of Mr Martin’s blood on them, pointed out Mr Simpson.
Mohammed was not arrested until January and also made no comment, but CCTV experts found ‘moderate support’ for him being one of the attackers.
Mr Simpson said that Omar ‘now admits he took part in the attack,’ but continued to deny knowing a knife had been used, while Mohammed denied being present, although he admitted being one of the men in Paddy Power.
