"He began to sober up on the way"
Thug Kamar Karim, aged 38, of Leeds, was given an extended prison sentence totalling four and a half years after he beat a stranger in a random attack.
Leeds Crown Court heard that the attack took place at a house in front of a group of men who filmed the violence.
The incident happened on February 14, 2019, when Karim punched the victim at a Leeds takeaway before forcing the man into a car.
He took him to a house where five men watched Karim repeatedly kick the man in the head. A mobile phone was used to film the attack.
Karim stopped assaulting the man to smoke crack cocaine before continuing to punch the man.
The victim was then forced to get back into the car and was driven to Hull to pick up a woman.
Karim was arrested when the car stopped at a petrol station. Officers found the thug in the back seat with the woman smoking crack cocaine.
The prosecutor, Victoria Smith-Swain explained that the victim suffered a broken cheekbone and eye socket in the incident.
She said the incident happened when the victim went into HFC Chicken, on Brudenell Road, Hyde Park.
Karim, who had been drinking heavily, was behind the counter arguing with staff when the victim entered the building.
Karim came from behind the counter and punched the man repeatedly in the face then took his car keys.
The thug forced the victim to get into the car and drove him to a nearby house.
Miss Smith-Swain said the man felt frightened and humiliated as he was filmed by the men as Karim was attacking him.
She then said that Karim ordered the victim to return to the car where they went to Hull to pick up a woman called Chloe.
Miss Smith-Swain said: “He began to sober up on the way and began to apologise to him.”
Karim pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm.
He has 14 previous convictions for 19 offences, including assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assaulting a constable, inflicting grievous bodily harm and witness intimidation.
Karim was out of prison on licence at the time of the offence. He attacked a man in the street and repeatedly stamping on his head.
Jane Cooper, mitigating, explained that Karim abused alcohol to cope with the loss of his wife in 2014.
She said Karim was trusted by staff at Armley jail to such an extent that he had been asked to communicate with prison management about safety and decency on the prison’s A-wing.
Ms Cooper said Karim accepted that he must face a lengthy prison sentence but was determined to turn his life around while in prison.
Judge Simon Batiste told him: “You are someone who has regularly in the past used significant violence, causing harm to others.
“You are someone who is prepared to use violence for little apparent reason.”
After Judge Batiste stated that he considered Karim to pose a serious danger to the public, he handed the defendant an extended prison sentence totalling four and a half years.
He must serve a custodial term of three years, where he must serve at least two-thirds in prison before he can apply to the parole board for release.
Kamar Karim will then serve an extended period of 18 months on licence.
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