Brothers jailed for Vicious ‘Revenge’ Attack on Family Friend

Two brothers received sentences totalling over 20 years for a revenge attack on a family friend which left him unconscious in the street.

Uwais Madni and Abbas Alhaq beat Syed Shah with weapons in Sparkbrook, Birmingham, after hearing “allegations” which had been made about the victim.

Mr Shah had just returned from playing football when the brothers drove to his home and picked him up at around 11:40 pm on January 19, 2020.

At the time, he didn’t know about the allegations and considered the brothers to be friends of the family.

Prosecutor Tim Devlin said: “He went to the car willingly without an inkling of the intention of the defendants.”

Madni and Alhaq drove the university student to Swallow Close and spoke with him for about five minutes in the vehicle before an “altercation” broke out.

CCTV captured the pair grabbing weapons from the boot and striking Mr Shah, who was initially pinned up against their car and then forced to the ground.

The siblings then “panicked” and fled, disposing of their phones.

They called the ambulance themselves after returning to the scene to see that Mr Shah was still lying there.

The brothers later claimed they intended to talk to Mr Shah and ask him to apologise and they claimed things “escalated into a fight”.

Mr Shah suffered “extensive brain damage” and has been left disabled.

In a statement, he said he relives the attack “every day of my life” and was suffering from severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The victim has also abandoned his studies, no longer trusted people and had no dignity because he had to rely on his family to help with basic tasks.

He added: “This act ruined my life, destroyed the future quality of life I once looked forward to.”

In their basis of plea, the brothers said they “panicked” after the attack and “didn’t quite realise the extent of his injuries”, adding that they expected him to “get up, go home and lick his wounds”.

But when they returned to the scene three hours later to find he was “still in the street and unconscious” they immediately called an ambulance.

Darron Whitehead, defending Madni, stated the defendants’ and victim’s families were “close-knit” and “appeared to know each other quite well”.

He said the attack was “out of character” for the siblings and “not well-planned”.

Mr Whitehead told Birmingham Crown Court that Madni had put his relationship on hold and left his job at BMW because “this chapter needed to be closed before his future plans could be met”.

Alhaq ended up suffering mental health issues and psychotic episodes, which required extensive treatment.

On November 9, 2022, his family called the police on him when he caused a disorder while armed with three knives.

When police arrived, Alhaq kicked one of them and also used a homophobic slur to insult him.

Ben Hargreaves, defending Alhaq, stated neither he nor his brother “foresaw the gravity of their actions” in relation to their attack on Mr Shah.

Madni and Alhaq were initially charged with attempted murder but their pleas to cause grievous bodily harm with intent were accepted.

Alhaq also admitted three counts of possessing a bladed article and assaulting a police officer in relation to the incident in 2022.

Alhaq was sentenced to 10 years while Madni received 10 years and four months.

Both will serve up to two-thirds of the terms before they are eligible for release.

Judge Paul Farrer KC said: “Whatever their intent when they collected Mr Shah this was a revenge attack by the time they lost their temper.

“It was motivated by a desire to exact retribution.”