"15 to 16 blows were rained down on him in total."
Two brothers have been jailed for more than four years after they brutally beat a Derby shopkeeper with a baseball bat in the middle of a busy road.
The attack, in Duffield Road, was so violent that it left the victim with a fractured skull and a bleed to the brain.
The prosecutor, Rosemary Kavanagh, explained that the incident happened on the evening of April 25, 2019.
She revealed there had been some bad blood between the victim and the defendants’ family, to which he is related.
CCTV footage showed the victim leaving his shop holding a metal bar and striking a car windscreen which was parked opposite and had the brothers inside.
The brothers then got out holding a baseball bat. Faisal Farooq held the victim down while his brother Sheraz Farooq struck the man with the weapon.
Miss Kavanagh said: “It was a savage attack, 15 to 16 blows were rained down on him in total.
“It is fair to say Faisal was at no stage using a weapon but his culpability is that he holds down the complainant.
“Faisal helps the victim to his feet but then they then run back to the car and leave.”
Graphic photographs showed three huge lacerations to the victim’s head. Miss Kavanagh said the victim suffered a fractured skull and bleed to the brain but has since made a full recovery.
Phone evidence showed that Sheraz was sending messages after the assault saying “that he was a hero”.
Sheraz then tried to leave the UK but was caught at Heathrow Airport.
Miss Kavanagh said: “The messages also showed he planned to fly to Manilla to evade prosecution and he was arrested at London Heathrow Airport on May 11 with a one-way ticket to Manilla.
“He said ‘OK, Derby cops have come down and got me’.”
Faisal pleaded guilty to assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.
The court heard that Faisal has 22 convictions for 44 previous offences. One included a similar case where he repeatedly attacked a man with a golf club in the street over a drug debt.
In mitigation, Elisabeth Evans said: “I would respectfully submit on his behalf that he played a subordinate role in this as he did not rain down any blows in the victim.
“He has, in the past, had addictions to gambling, cocaine and heroin but he is now free of all drugs.”
Sheraz pleaded guilty to the same charge and has no previous convictions.
His barrister Richard Butcher said:
“I have no idea what was the catalyst for this assault but he knows the CCTV shows him as an enthusiastic participant who got involved.
“He acted very stupidly when being sought by attempting to fleeing jurisdiction.”
Judge Nirmal Shant QC told the brothers:
“This was an attack on an individual in a public street with vehicles driving by.
“It was a sustained assault on the victim who was struck a number of times while lying in the road.”
“You, Faisal Farooq, were holding him down and therefore were instrumental in enabling that to happen.
“There was no doubt some element of planning and you, Sheraz Farooq, were someone holding and using a weapon.
“Then after that, you made an attempt to flee the country.”
Derby Telegraph reported that Faisal was jailed for 28 months while Sheraz received a two-year sentence.
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